CaixaBank's CEO, Gonzalo Gortázar, met with the members of the Advisory Committee of the bank's shareholders to explain the company's positive results in 2022, thanks to its strong sales, synergies from the Bankia integration ,and the proposed shareholder remuneration.
During the meeting, Gortázar conveyed to the members of the Advisory Committee his assessment of the last year: “In 2022, a year that saw the culmination of the integration process, CaixaBank was able to keep up the commercial pace despite the context of uncertainty resulting from the invasion of Ukraine, and it met its financial and activity targets”.
Following on from this, the CEO noted that the company “closed out a very positive 2022 in terms of commercial dynamics, credit quality and financial strength”. Gortázar expressed his satisfaction “with the good progress of the activity, a reflection of the capacity and desire of CaixaBank to keep supporting families and companies”.
Gortázar commented that the FY 2022 earnings and the company's financial strength allows CaixaBank to “strengthen our commitment to engaging with our customers and with society in general". He also noted how “we provide a basic societal function and we will continue to support society in three main areas: helping customers with difficulties, ensuring financial inclusion, and launching social initiatives”.
He also underlined how "the improved earnings allow CaixaBank to increase the remuneration paid to our shareholders”. The CEO recalled that the proposal will be made at the AGM to pay a gross dividend of 0.2306 euros per share charged to 2022, which is equivalent to a 58% increase compared to the 0.1463 euros of the previous year. This remuneration, which will be paid in April, represents a payout of 55%.
For the 2023 financial year, the approved dividend policy will mean paying out a cash dividend of 50% to 60% of the net consolidated profit, payable in a single payment in April 2024 and subject to final approval at the AGM.
Gortázar advised that this dividend goes directly back into society, since the two main shareholders are the “la Caixa” Foundation and the State, via the FROB. The company has a further 617,800 shareholders.
He expressed his gratitude to the members of the Advisory Committee of shareholders for being involved in this body, “which provides a way for the company to engage with its shareholders and to constantly improve communications, while promoting transparency”.
This was the final meeting for two committee members, whose terms have expired: Josep Casalprim Compte and Lluís Miquel Fernández, both from Girona. Also finishing her term was María Bertolín Pérez (Valencia), although she was unable to attend the meeting.
The members of the Advisory Committee also met with CaixaBank's CFO, Javier Pano, who analysed the bank's economic performance in 2022.
Pioneering initiative in the IBEX 35
CaixaBank was the first financial institution in the IBEX 35 to have an Advisory Committee of shareholders whose goal is to propose, promote and consider actions and channels of communication to improve the dialogue between the company and its shareholders.
It consists of members who represent the shareholders and, as per the rules of the Committee, these members have a maximum term of three years, resulting in regular changes. New members are selected from the candidates proposed in the ‘Shareholders' area’ of the corporate website (www.CaixaBank.com), who try to reflect the makeup of the shareholders. Every Committee member must own a minimum of 1,000 shares during their entire term.
Aula programme
Thanks to the contributions made by the members of the Advisory Committee of shareholders, various initiatives have been carried out. Some of these initiatives have formed part of the ‘Aula Programme' (‘Classroom programme’) to train shareholders, in which the company provides financial education through in-person courses, webinars and materials for distance learning.
Through this programme, CaixaBank managed to bring its content to over 10,000 shareholders in 2022 alone, who took part in the different training sessions. As part of the programme, CaixaBank launched ‘Training on wheels’, which seeks to introduce financial and economic concepts to the general public in an accessible video format. During a brief two-minute car ride, experts from different fields will provide easy-to-understand explanations of various everyday topics involving finance, the economy and sustainability - all using clear, user-friendly language.
Every week, new content will be made available through the Twitter profile for CaixaBank's shareholders (Accionistas@CABK), and also in the company's YouTube channel.
In addition, the second season of the "Financial Aula Training" podcast was launched with the publication of 12 episodes on financial and economic subjects, available on the leading platforms.
All the content of the Classroom is available in the ‘Shareholders' area' of the corporate website (www.CaixaBank.com), so that anyone who is interested can access the various materials online.
