CaixaBank New credit production has improved in the fourth quarter of last year, especially in the area of mortgages for home purchases. Specifically, the entity chaired by José Ignacio Goirigolzarri has signed mortgages worth more than 2,700 million euros between October and December 2023, which represents an increase of 21.3% compared to the quarterly average for the first nine months of the year. Thus, the new production of this type of credit has reached 9,382 million euros in 2023.
According to the accounts sent by the entity to the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV), the new production of consumer loans has reached 10,325 million in the whole of 2023 and loans to companies have exceeded 37,005 million, both also with better performance in the last months of the year.
In 2023, CaixaBank has granted more than 280,000 financing operations to companies and 80,000 mortgages to families. On the other hand, since the interest rate increase began, the entity has managed more than 30,000 refinancings, novations from variable to fixed rates. This figure includes both mortgage refinancing such as novations of mortgages from variable to fixed interest and some 6,400 requests from clients covered by the Code of Good Practices.
In addition, CaixaBank has detected an increase in demand for fixed mortgages for home purchases. In fact, around 70% of the new mortgage production in 2023 has been signed at a fixed rate. Thus, the entity has 48,000 million euros in fixed-rate mortgages, compared to the 32,000 million it had at the end of 2021.
There will be a drop in fees
CaixaBank anticipates a drop in mortgage payments in the coming months due to the drop in the Euribor. The CEO of the entity, Gonzalo Gortazarexplained that, due to the forecast lowering of interest rates in 2024, the installments paid by clients with a variable rate mortgage will be reduced by an average of 20 euros per month.
«We have already begun to negatively reprice mortgages that are indexed to the six-month Euribor. And for those who review it at twelve, which is the majority, they will do so starting in May or June. On average, by 2024 we expect a drop of 20 euros per month,” said Gortázar.
Currently, CaixaBank has 1.6 million customers with a mortgage. Of the total, 65% are formalized at a variable rate. Some 300,000 clients have their loans referenced to the 6-month Euribor, so they will experience a drop in the payment during the first half of the year and another 700,000 will see this drop throughout the second half of the year.
In fact, Gortázar has pointed out that mortgage installments referenced to the 6-month Euribor have already begun to become cheaper in Spain as a prelude to those linked to the 12-month index, which will continue this downward trend from the middle of this year, predictably.
Results
CaixaBank obtained a attributed net profit of 4,816 million euros in 2023, which represents an increase of 53.9% in the interannual rate. Given this good performance, the entity has proposed to the General Shareholders’ Meeting the distribution of a dividend of 2,890 million euros.
In fiscal year 2023, the entity highlights the increase in income core (+31.6%) to reach 15,137 million, driven by the interest margin, which amounts to 10,113 million (+54.3%). Caixabank attributes these data to the “favorable impact that the new rate environment has had on the banking business, as well as the good management carried out by the commercial network”, which offsets the decrease in the net commissions item (-5.1% ).
Recurring banking fees were reduced by 9.4% year-on-year, due to the elimination of deposit custody fees from large companies and the bonuses applied to customer loyalty programs. Therefore, the gross margin closed 2023 at 14,231 million: an increase of 28.3% compared to 2022.
2024-02-03 06:06:05
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