Banks prepare to announce record profits

Portugal’s banks are expected to announce significant profits for 2023 from Friday as they present their annual results.

Profits are likely to be well above results in 2022, and will hit a new record according to back-of- the envelope calculations made by the business daily Negócios.
“It was a perfect year for the banks, near ideal” said one insider explaining that high interest rates were partly behind the expected record results.
“They had favourable winds in terms of increasing their margins on the back of interest rate increases, but with a slow pass on to customers in terms of interest on deposits and other applications.”
However, the icing on the cake for the “ideal” context was Portugal’s economic growth. “The results will certainly be above those seen in previous years”, added the banking sector source.
Profits made in the first nine months of the year point to record results for the five main banks; Santander, Caixa Geral de Depósitos, Novobanco (which is definitely being prepared for an IPO this year according to a bank insider who spoke to Essential on Tuesday), BPI and Millennium bcp.
In consolidated terms, Caixa Geral de Depósitos achieved €978 million to September, BCP €651 million, Novobanco €639 million, BPI €390 million, and Santander €622 million.