Banco Sabadell rules out conducting “institutional operations” in the “foreseeable horizon” that would increase its size and avoid new attempts to buy the entity. “These things might make sense, but they won’t happen because everyone is achieving their goals and feeling good about their strategy and surroundings.” This was announced on Friday by the bank’s CEO, Cesar González Bueno, in the presentation of the entity’s third-quarter results, the first after the failed takeover attempt (OPA) launched by BBVA.
Throughout the 17-month process, speculation intensified about a merger with another entity. Bankinter hasn’t gotten into the merger dance yet. The two names that have been most popular so far among potential partners are: Abanca, an operation that has been bombed by the management leadership of Sabadell, and Unicaja, with which this operation has been attempted in the past. In both cases, its territorial presence would be completely compatible with that of Sabadell.
Any similar operation carried out by “some of the major Spanish banks” would lead to the same competition problems faced by the BBVA takeover bid. “The best hard core of a bank is, as has been proven, 40% minority shareholders and therefore customers,” González Bueno insisted.
Once the takeover offer has been completed, “the strong third-quarter results confirm the entity’s confirmation of the year-end objectives set in the 2025-2027 Strategic Plan,” stressed the CEO, who validated his focus on growth in Spain and the shareholder remuneration forecast for the period: 6,450 million euros.
“There is no news, we will fulfill everything we committed to. Despite the long takeover offer, the bank has not stopped,” Banco Sabadell’s CEO stressed. However, it acknowledged that the entity had increased its net customer base “less than expected” through September as a result of the uncertainty created by the process. He specifically explained that the bank only reached 75% of its customer acquisition target due to “uncertainty and difficulty” in getting new customers to join the entity.
The production of corporate loans and credits in Spain, one of the bank’s hallmarks and which it emphasized more during the long battle against BBVA, also fell by 1% year-on-year, to 13.902 million. The bank’s chief executive admitted that “we want to have a marginal market share, it could be higher and we have an internal project in this regard.”
Banco Sabadell generated record profits of €1,390 million through September, 7.3% higher than in the same period a year earlier, driven by credit growth, customer resources and lower provisioning provisions.
But the record profit did not meet analysts’ expectations, and the bank’s shares fell by more than 4% in the middle of the session. Bankinter’s Rafael Alonso noted to Efe that the entity’s updated net profit was disappointing, at €414 million compared to the expected €442 million.
Despite this, he explained that the fundamentals of the entity are solid, with a favorable macro environment for the banking sector, and with interesting remuneration for shareholders. From Renta4, Nuria Alvarez also pointed out that Sabadell’s calculations were lower than the estimates.
Since last October 16, when the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) announced that BBVA’s takeover bid did not reach the 30% minimum it needed to proceed, Sabadell’s shares have risen almost 7%, compared to BBVA’s 20%.
The Catalan group’s profitability, measured by ROTE (on tangible assets), was 15% (14.1% recurring), compared to 13.2% a year ago.
In a moderate rate environment, the facility recorded banking income (interest margin plus net commissions) of $4,659 million through September, 2% lower. Interest margin was 3,628 million, representing a year-on-year decrease of 3.2% and a quarter-on-quarter decrease of 0.5%.
Meanwhile, credit volume grew by 8.1% – excluding UK subsidiary TSB, which will be sold at the beginning of 2026 – and client funds by 15.4% off-balance sheet and 5% on-balance sheet.
The non-performing loan ratio (excluding TSB) was 2.75% in September, compared to 3.71% a year earlier, and provisions decreased by 29.3% due to the improved credit situation.
The positive development of the business translates into a credit balance outstanding in September of $120.103 million (excluding TSB), an increase of 8.1%.
In Spain, mortgage granting grows by 26% year-on-year and reaches 5,062 million, while new consumer credit amounts to 2,216 million between January and September, an increase of 19%.
About The Author
