CaixaBank is named "Bank of the Year 2013" by The Banker

The magazine of the Financial Times Group points to CaixaBank's strength and solvency, which has seen the bank successfully consolidate its leadership in the Spanish market

• The Chairman of CaixaBank, Isidro Fainé, said "this recognition endorses CaixaBank's shrewd decision to focus on prioritising service quality and upholding the bank's reputation, without abandoning our core principles". Juan María Nin, CEO of the CaixaBank, stated that the bank "seeks to further consolidate its solvency and leading position via profitable growth in the banking for individuals market, where 27 out of every 100 Spaniards are CaixaBank customers".

CaixaBank, the leading bank in the Spanish financial market, has been named ‘Bank of the Year 2013' in Spain by Britain's The Banker magazine. The Banker, which is part of the Financial Times Group and specialises in the banking sector, applauded CaixaBank's solvency and solid banking business, which has seen it consolidate its leading position in Spain, despite the challenges facing the European banking sector.

The publication particularly emphasized CaixaBank's technological innovation as a means of catering to the changing needs of its customers and the environment.

The award, presented at a ceremony last night in London, also recognises CaixaBank's financial strengths, prudent business model, capacity to generate revenue and sustain organic and acquisitions-driven growth, which includes its success in incorporating the recently acquired Banca Cívica and Banco de Valencia.

The Banker is a monthly magazine that was founded in 1928 and is considered one of the world's best financial publications. It belongs to the Financial Times Group and is circulated in more than 180 countries.

Through these awards, The Banker honours those banks that it considers "the most important in the world". The banks are judged on their "ability to deliver shareholder returns and to gain strategic advantage" over the year.

The British publication also recognised that CaixaBank has sustained its Welfare Projects budget at 500 million euro in 2013, despite the complex and demanding climate. This same amount of funds has been set aside for Welfare Projects in each of the last five years. This budget ensures that "la Caixa" Welfare Projects remains the leading private foundation in Spain and one of the five largest worldwide.

Solvency and service quality

The Chairman of CaixaBank, Isidro Fainé, said "this recognition endorses CaixaBank's shrewd focus on prioritising service quality and upholding the bank's reputation, without abandoning our core principles. This is even more important than ever, given that we now have the responsibility of being the leading bank in the Spanish market".

Meanwhile, the CEO of CaixaBank, Juan María Nin, pointed out that the bank launched the second stage of its 2011-2014 Strategic Plan in 2013, in which "CaixaBank seeks to further consolidate its solvency and leading position via profitable growth in the retail banking sector, where 27 out of every 100 Spaniards are CaixaBank customers".
 
2013, a year of constant advances

CaixaBank has consolidated its leadership in the Spanish market after completing the incorporation of Banca Cívica and Banco de Valencia. It now has 13.7 million customers, assets worth 342,675 million euro and business volume of 514,644 million euro. The bank employs 32,347 staff and has almost 6,000 branches.

According to the latest figures, CaixaBank's market share among individuals is 27.4% (22.7% of whom hold their primary account at CaixaBank).

Thanks to its strong retail banking arm, the incorporation of Banca Cívica and Banco de Valencia, contributions from investees and excellent management of assets and liabilities, in the third quarter of 2013 CaixaBank's gross income stood at 5,267 million euro (up 2.6% against the same period in 2012).

The bank is also particularly solvent, with a BIS II Core Capital ratio of 12.5% at the close of September 2013. It has powerful capacity to generate capital and an excellent liquidity position of 66,289 million euro (up 13,197 million in the year), representing 19.3% of total Group assets.