BCP profits at €257 million to September

Portugal’s largest private bank BCP saw profits of €257.5 million for the first nine months of the year, up 93.1% on the same period last year.

The bank, led by Miguel Maya, stated that the almost double profits were down to “activity in Portugal which showed a very favourable development.”

Analysts from rival bank BPI estimate that BCP closed the first nine months of the year with a liquid result of €244 million.

But BCP said the net result of €257.5 million compared well with the €133.3 million registered for the same period in 2017.

It said that in Portugal alone profits were €114.9 million compared to €0.8 million like-for-like last year.

Its international activity increased 7.2%, from €131.3 million in the first nine months of 2017 to €140.8 million for the same period in 2018.

In the first nine months of the year, the bank saw a 2.9% improvement on its financial margins (difference between interest charged on loans and interest paid out on deposits) to €1Bn.