Laughing all the way to the bank! – Portugal’s banks closed 2022 with €3Bn

Four of Portugal’s high street banks raked in profits of €2Bn in 2022, expected to be close to €3Bn with interest.

Caixa Geral de Depósitos posted end-of-year profits of €2Bn or €5.5 million per day, while with revenues from interest and support from the Bank of Portugal that figure could be as high as €3Bn.
The bumper results saw profits soar by 52% on 2021 to make 2022 the best year CGD has had for at least a decade. All of the banks cashed in with the help of high interest rates which increased their financial margins by 30%.
Four of Portugal’s main banks – Novobanco will present its results on March 9, and is expected to also post record profits; the best since it was created in 2014 – made on average around €5.5 million a day. However, some banks are more profitable than others.
CGD and Santander have a Return on Equity (ROE) of 10%, a benchmark indicator used to attract investors from a particularly capital rich sector.
BCP has not been as profitable because of losses sustained by its bank in Poland. The bank led by Miguel Maya posted profits that were lower than the other banks, slightly over €200 million, up 50% on 2021.
CGD, which is run by Paulo Macedo, made almost record profits of €843 million, allowing the public bank to pay out dividends of €352 million to the State – the largest in its history -, plus its headquarters building in Lisbon worth €300 million is a dividend in kind. Large parts of it will be rented out to the Government to house several ministries and departments.
Santander Totta doubled its results last year to €600 million, but it is unclear how much of those profits will be transferred to its holding bank in Spain.
BPI netted €365 million in profits in 2022, of which €285 million will be transferred to the bank in Spain which controls it, CaixaBank.

PHOTO: JOSÉ SENA GOULÃO/LUSA