CGD pays record dividend to State

State-owned bank Caixa Geral de Deposits has paid out €712.6 million in dividends to the Portuguese State – the biggest payout in its history.

The payout corresponded to €351 million in dividends from cash-holdings and €361 million for the money it received by selling the bank’s headquarters building on Avenida João XXI in Lisbon. Several floors in the building that currently stand empty or were used by the bank will now house several government ministries.
“The delivery of the greatest dividend ever from Caixa took place on Tuesday after having met all the conditions decided at a meeting of the bank’s General Assembly on June 29, 2023, namely the authorisations required from the supervisory entity”, stated the bank led by Paulo Macedo in a communiqué sent to newsrooms.
The bank emphasises that it has now paid off €1,675Bn of the €2.5Bn it owed the Portuguese State after the bank suffered during the Portuguese Banking Crisis, partly on the back of over leveraged and risky loans made by some of the bank’s directors in the years leading up to the crisis from 2010 to 2014.
In other words, the bank has paid off two-thirds of the total invested in it by the State when the bank was recapitalised in 2017.
“The board of directors plan is to pay back all of this amount by 2025 based on the dividends for the years 2023 and 2024, providing there are not significant changes in the market”, states CGD.
In relation to its headquarters, CGD says it will continue to occupy the building as a tenant until 2026 or 2027 while it looks for a new office.
The bank has already vacated around 32,000m2 and will continue to free up space gradually to enable the government to set up in the building.
In 2022, CGD made profits of more than €600 million within six months alone on the back of the higher interest rates.