SPANISH BANKS ACHIEVE ATTRIBUTABLE PROFIT OF 6,607 MILLION IN THE FIRST HALF OF 2011, WITH A DECREASE OF 17.2%, AFTER IMPROVING THEIR SOLVENCY AND FINANCING<\/p>\n
ACCOUNTING EQUITY GROWS AT AN ANNUAL RATE OF 11.3%, WHILE CORE CAPITAL ADVANCES FROM 8.4% TO 9.2%<\/p>\n
DEPOSITS INCREASE BY 79,000 MILLION IN THE LAST 12 MONTHS, ALLOWING FOR LESS RELIANCE ON MARKETS AND IMPROVING THE DEPOSITS\/LOANS RATIO TO OVER 80%<\/p>\n
The attributable profit as of June 30, 2011, for the aggregate of Spanish banking groups amounted to 6,607 million euros, representing a decrease of 17.2% compared to the first half of the previous year.<\/p>\n
The most recurring part of the income statement remained stable, and the slight decrease in the interest margin was more than offset by increases in dividends, equity investments, and net commissions. As a result, the total of these items shows an increase of 0.7% compared to the same period in 2010. <\/p>\n
Lower results from financial operations and an increase in operating expenses, the latter partly due to the expansion of the consolidation perimeter, led to a 10.3% lower operating profit compared to June 2010.<\/p>\n
Losses from the impairment of financial assets recorded in the first half of 2011 amounted to 8,179 million euros, although they are lower than those recorded in the same period of the previous year. This difference was almost entirely offset by higher provisions, impairment losses on other assets, and other gains and losses, so that the total of provisions, write-downs, and sales results was only 2.8% lower than the accumulated figure as of June 2010. <\/p>\n
Without any extraordinary results recorded in the semester, the consolidated profit amounts to 7,487 million euros, representing an annualized ROA of 0.67% compared to 0.80% a year earlier. The attributable profit, for its part, reached the aforementioned 6,607 million euros, while the attributable ROE stood at 9.12% compared to 12.25% in June 2010. <\/p>\n
This decrease in ROE is partly motivated by the strong increase in accounting equity, which grew at an annual rate of 11.3% in average balances, compared to an increase in average assets of 3.2% relative to the first half of the previous year. Regarding own funds computable for solvency purposes, the BIS ratio remains at similar levels to a year ago, 12.6%, with a significant improvement in its higher quality components, i.e., core capital, which increased from 8.4% to 9.2%. <\/p>\n
In final balances, the total balance sheet remained stable over the last year, with growth of barely 0.4% over June 2010, a percentage similar to that experienced by customer loans. The non-performing loan ratio stands at 4.5% compared to 4.2% a year ago, while the coverage ratio reached 62%, slightly lower than the 66% in June 2010. <\/p>\n
Customer deposits, for their part, increased by 79,000 million euros in the last twelve months, representing an annual growth rate of 7.4%. The positive evolution of deposits has allowed for offsetting both the 36,000 million decrease in issued marketable securities and the 36,000 million reduction in the net borrowing position with monetary financial institutions. This improves the deposits\/loans coverage level to over 80%, compared to 75% a year ago. <\/p>\n
The aggregate of the individual profit and loss accounts of Spanish banks also shows an accounting profit of 3,944 million euros, lower than that of the previous year by 19.6%, although in this case the decline is partly due to the contraction in the size of the balance sheet, which, in final balances, was 2.4% in the last twelve months.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, customer deposits grew by 7.7% and allowed for offsetting the decrease in funding raised in wholesale markets through the issuance of marketable securities. Loans, for their part, grew by 0.7% compared to June 2010, with a non-performing loan ratio of 5.89% at the end of the semester, with 54% coverage. <\/p>\n