Spanish banking groups obtained a consolidated result of €16,079 million in 2009, 9.2% less than in the previous year. Of this result, the attributed profit stood at €14,943 million, 9.8% lower than that recorded in the previous year. These results are achieved after making a significant effort in provisions and allowances of €24,241 million and a substantial qualitative and quantitative improvement in solvency.
As of December 31, 2009, Spanish banks presented a solvency ratio under Basel II criteria (BIS ratio) of 13.4%, with an excess of equity of €54,868 million (39%) over their minimum regulatory requirements, and an increase in eligible capital of 14.5% compared to December of the previous year. The highest quality indicator, known as core capital, stood at 8.4%, 127 basis points above that achieved one year earlier. It should be noted that this improvement in solvency is based both on organic growth, through the increase in reserves with undistributed earnings, and on the placement of capital issues in the market.
The significant effort in provisions and write-downs, partly offset by substantial cost containment, has been reflected in a return on assets (ROA) of 0.77% for the year as a whole, 15 basis points lower than at the end of last year. For its part, the return on average equity (attributed ROE) was 12.1%, although in this case the decrease observed compared to 2008 is largely due to the sharp increase in equity (the denominator of the ratio).
Regarding the evolution of the margins in the consolidated income statement, the 29.4% increase in net interest income stands out, achieved through appropriate management of spreads in an environment of declining interest rates, especially in the short term. This improvement, together with the positive performance of results from financial operations, which increased by 25%, has offset the stagnation observed in net fee and commission income and the decline in dividends received.
Operating expenses grow moderately, at a rate lower than the growth of the aggregate consolidated balance sheet, with the efficiency ratio before provisions improving by 2.4 percentage points to stand at 41.3%.
Despite the effort made in write-downs amounting to €24,241 million (1.16% of average total assets), 53% more than in 2008, the consolidated result from operating activities recorded a minimal decline of 1.4%. For its part, the consolidated balance sheet closed the 2009 financial year with growth of 4.1%, reaching €2.12 trillion.
In a very difficult economic environment, Spanish banking groups increased credit granted to customers by 3.4% in 2009. The non-performing loan ratio reached 4.07% and the coverage ratio stood at 66%. At the same time, customer deposits grew by 10.2%, improving the deposits-to-loans ratio to 72% (67% one year earlier).
The increase in accounting equity of €21,213 million should be highlighted, practically the same effort as that made in write-downs, an increase that for the most part comes from organically generated resources or has been raised in the market through issues.
The aggregate of the individual statements of Spanish banks presents, in its most relevant aspects, the same trends observed in the consolidated statements. Thus, the aggregate net profit of individual banks amounted to €10,009 million in 2009, representing a decrease of 15.4% compared to that achieved in 2008. The return on total assets (ROA) was 0.68% and in terms of ROE (on equity), 10.14%. In both cases they were lower than those at the end of the previous year.
For its part, the aggregate of individual balance sheets stood at €1.47 trillion at the end of 2009, representing a slight annual decrease of 0.8%. Likewise, and unlike what was observed in the consolidated figures, customer loans decreased by 1%, while customer deposits decreased by 3.7%.
Finally, as of December 31, 2009, the non-performing loan ratio in individual accounts stood at 4.86% and the coverage ratio at 58%.
