Strategy

Business growth and diversification

Bankinter has once again closed a successful year thanks to the rapid adaptation of its strategy.

The Spanish economy advanced steadily during 2024, with very positive growth figures compared to the rest of the developed countries, exceeding expectations and demonstrating strong resilience thanks to the good performance of activities such as tourism, household consumption and the export sector.

At the same time, other economies in our surroundings, such as Portugal and Ireland, where, together with Spain, Bankinter concentrates its business activity, have had an equally positive performance, demonstrating greater dynamism than other traditionally more buoyant countries, in contrast to the concerning weakness of the France or, in particular, Germany.

The economy and international geopolitics have been influenced by a series of variables: variables persisting from previous years, such as the armed conflict between Ukraine and Russia or those in the Middle East; some of which broke out recently, such as the uncertainty surrounding the arrival of the Trump Administration; and others that affect economic and financial activity more directly, such as the downward correction of interest rates agreed by the central banks to stimulate the economy now that inflation has stabilised.

In this sense, Bankinter's business activity has been, on the one hand, boosted by the favourable winds of the regions in which the bank operates and, on the other, weighed down by the trends in interest rates, which complicates the generation of income via the net interest margin.

With all this, Bankinter has achieved another successful year thanks to the quick adaptation of its strategy to this new context. The bank has thus intensified its commercial activity in strategic segments, with strong growth in business volumes and in the number of customers, with a special focus on products and services that provide the greatest value for the customer and, consequently, also for the bank via fees. Likewise, it has enhanced the diversification of its sources of income, which are gaining importance in the Group's accounts.

This diversification has led to incremental business from geographies other than Spain where the bank operates (Portugal, Ireland and Luxembourg) now accounting for more than 18% of the Group's revenues. To boost this growth, Bankinter has made significant investments in the technological platform of its Portuguese subsidiary. In addition, at the end of November, the bank received authorisation from the relevant authorities to create the Irish branch, which will begin operating in 2025 under the name Bankinter Ireland; both of these items will undoubtedly serve to drive this growth.