Banco Sabadell provides for “corporate operations” for a “foreseeable period” in order to increase scale and avoid new takeover attempts. “They may make sense, but they won’t happen because everyone has achieved their goals and is satisfied with their strategy and boundaries.” This was announced by the bank’s CEO Cesar Gonzalez-Bueno this Friday during the bank’s third-quarter earnings call, the first since the failed public tender offer (OPA) launched by BBVA.
Speculation about a merger with another organization intensified throughout the 17-month process. VanInter is not participating in any merger efforts so far. The two most popular potential partners so far have been Abanca, which was shut down by Sabadell’s own leadership, and Unicaja, where the venture had been attempted in the past. Because in both cases its territorial presence is very consistent with that of Sabadell.
A similar operation by “some of the big” Spanish banks would create competitive issues similar to the BBVA takeover bid. “As has been proven, the most important core of a bank is its 40% minority shareholders and, by extension, its customers,” González-Bueno argued.
Once the takeover bid is completed, “the strong results in the third quarter reaffirm that we will achieve the year-end targets set out in our strategic plan for 2025-2027,” the CEO stressed, confirming the company’s focus on growth in Spain and a projected shareholder remuneration of 6.45 billion euros for the period.
Banco Sabadell’s CEO stressed: “There is no news. We intend to fulfill everything we have promised. Despite the long-term takeover offer, the bank has not stopped.” However, the company admitted that net customer base growth through September was “less than expected” as a result of the uncertainty created by the process. Specifically, the bank explained that it has only achieved 75% of its customer acquisition targets due to “uncertainty and difficulty” in onboarding new customers.
The bank’s track record of lending to Spanish companies, which is one of its characteristics and has been the focus of its long-term battle with BBVA, decreased by 1% from the same period last year to 13.92 billion. “We would like to gain a small market share, but it could be higher and we are working on internal projects in this regard,” a key executive at the bank admitted.
Banque Sabadell achieved a record profit of 1.39 billion euros through September, up 7.3% year-on-year, due to increased credit and customer resources and lower provision provisions.
However, the record profits fell short of analysts’ expectations, and the bank’s shares were down more than 4% at midpoint. Bankinter’s Rafael Alonso told the Efe agency that the company’s latest net profit was disappointing at 414 million euros, compared to expectations of 442 million euros.
Nevertheless, he said the company’s fundamentals are solid, with a favorable macro environment for the banking sector and interesting shareholder compensation. Nuria Alvarez of Renta4 also pointed out that Sabadell’s financial results were lower than estimates.
Since October 16 of last year, when the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) announced that BBVA’s tender offer fell short of the minimum threshold of 30% needed to move forward, Sabadell shares have risen nearly 7% compared to BBVA’s 20%.
Catalan Group’s profitability, measured by ROTE (tangible assets), amounted to 15% (14.1% ordinary) compared to 13.2% a year ago.
In an environment of easing interest rates, the company posted a 2% decline in revenue from its banking business (interest margin and net fees) to $4.659 billion through September. Profit margin was 3.628 billion, down 3.2% year over year and down 0.5% on the quarter.
At the same time, credit volumes excluding UK subsidiary TSB, which will be sold in early 2026, increased by 8.1%, and customer funds increased 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% in the same period last year, but provisions decreased by 29.3% due to improved credit conditions.
Due to positive developments in commercial activity, credit balances increased by 8.1% to 120.103 billion (excluding TSB) in September.
In Spain, mortgage grants reached 5.062 billion, an increase of 26% year-on-year, and new consumer credit from January to September increased by 19% to 2.216 billion.
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