CaixaBank posts a profit of €4.96 billion in the nine months to September, up 12.9%, driven by strong business growth

#CaixaBank | #Financial strength | #Gonzalo Gortázar | #Results

CaixaBank corporate building in Barcelona

Gonzalo Gortázar, CEO of CaixaBank, explains that "these nine months have been very positive: we are attracting customers, increasing our activity and achieving a well-balanced business growth. Thanks to our strong position, we will continue to stand by families and businesses, while creating value for our customers, our shareholders, and society as a whole”.
The Board of Directors approves the distribution of an interim dividend of €1.28 billion (equivalent to €0.1844 gross per share), to be paid on 6 November.
The Group has more than 21 million customers in Spain and Portugal, having attracted nearly 480,000 net customers in the last 12 months, with a network of more than 4,500 branches.
Net interest income rises to €8.19 billion between January and September, a year-on-year increase of 2.9%, driven by growth in volumes. Moreover, revenues from services (wealth management, protection insurance and banking fees) up by 7.7% year-on-year to €4.18 billion.
Robust commercial activity. Business volumes climb 6.4% year-on-year, to €1.16 trillion, with lending and customer funds delivering a very positive performance.
Positive trend in lending to both households and businesses, with performing loan book growing by 8% year-on-year to €397.47 billion.
Customer funds reach €760.35 billion in September, up 5.6% year-on-year, driven by wealth management and strong deposits.
imagin, CaixaBank’s neobank, closes the period with 4.3 million customers (+9% year-on-year) and business volumes of €24.3 billion (+18% year-on-year).
Strengthened financial position, with the NPL ratio falling further, to 1.76%, comfortable liquidity levels and robust organic capital generation.
Commitment to society. CaixaBank is present in around 3,700 municipalities with a branch, ATM or mobile office, and has around 469,000 customers with basic payment accounts.

The CaixaBank Group posted a net profit of €4.96 billion between January and September 2026, up 12.9% on the same period a year earlier (€4.40 billion), driven by broad-based business growth.

CaixaBank already serves 21.1 million customers in Spain and Portugal, (with net growth of close to 480,000 over the last year) through a network of over 4,500 branches, and it holds more than €683 billion in assets. The bank has recorded stronger commercial momentum and client acquisition as part of the 2025-2027 Strategic Plan, thanks to its commitment to customer service and a unique omnichannel distribution platform and broad product offering.

CaixaBank’s CEO, Gonzalo Gortázar, explained that "these nine months have been very positive: we are attracting customers, increasing our activity and achieving a well-balanced business growth. Thanks to our strong position we will continue to stand by families and businesses, while creating value for our customers, our shareholders, and society as a whole”.

Gortázar added that "we have made further progress on our transformation process, aimed at offering a better service to our clients. We are incorporating artificial intelligence and new technological tools throughout the organisation, with improvements already visible in both consumer experience and commercial capabilities”.

Strong earnings growth

CaixaBank’s income statement showed sustained earnings growth between January and September, with profitability (trailing 12-month ROTE) standing at 18.8% at the end of the period.

Net interest income rose by 2.9% year-on-year to €8.19 billion in the first nine months of 2026, driven by growth in volumes.

Revenues from services (wealth management, protection insurance and banking fees) increased by 7.7% year-on-year to €4.18 billion. By component, revenues from wealth management rose by 12.5% (to €1.67 billion) due to higher volumes of assets under management, while revenues from protection insurance increased by 14.5% to €1 billion. Meanwhile, banking fees fell by 0.9% to €1.51 billion due to the 2.1% fall in recurring banking fees, partly owing to the effect of client loyalty programmes.

Income from the equity investment portfolio stood at €349 million, a year-on-year growth of 7.8%. The share of profit from entities accounted for using the equity method totalled €294 million (+10.9%) while dividend income was €55 million (-5.9%).

Gross income (total revenues) increased by 4.4% to €12.66 billion at the end of the third quarter; while pre-impairment income was up by 4.6% to €7.65 billion.

Meanwhile, administrative expenses and depreciation rose by 4.3% year-on-year, standing at €5 billion between January and September, while the 12-month cost-to-income ratio was 39.4%.

In 2026, the income statement is also affected by the recognition of the Tax on Net Interest and Fee Income (IMIC, in Spanish), which amounted to €452 million in the first nine months of the year, compared with €446 million in the same period of 2025.

Strong commercial momentum continued

CaixaBank recorded strong commercial momentum with business volumes climbing 6.4% year-on-year to €1.16 trillion at the end of September, and a positive trend in both lending and customer funds.

The performing loan book grew by 8% year-on-year to €397.47 billion, supported by strong lending to households and businesses. By segments, the performing loan book for businesses, home purchases and consumer lending increased by €19.40 billion (+11.4% year-on-year), €9.55 billion (+7% year-on-year) and €2.20 billion (+9.8% year-on-year) respectively.

When it comes to home purchase loans, CaixaBank remains committed to providing certainty for customers as to how much they will pay each month throughout the life of the loan. 60% of the portfolio now comprises fixed-rate loans (compared with 20% in 2021).

Customer funds totalled €760.35 billion at the end of September, up 5.6% year-on-year, driven by wealth management and the strength of deposits. Assets under management climbed 10.6% year-on-year to €216.33 billion. More precisely, assets under management in mutual funds, portfolios and SICAVs totalled €161.40 billion (+11.5%) and pension plan assets stood at €54.94 billion (+8.1%).

Furthermore, on-balance-sheet customer funds increased by 3.8% to €538.46 billion, with customer deposits up 2.7% (to €438.93 billion) and insurance contract liabilities up 11.3% (to €93.19 billion).

Net inflows to mutual funds, savings insurance and pension plans amounted to €15.20 billion in the last 12 months (+17.9% year-on-year).

The protection insurance portfolio also delivered a positive performance, with premiums rising by 11.6% in the last 12 months (life-risk insurance premiums up 12.5% and non-life premiums up +11.1%).

imagin, CaixaBank’s neobank and a key driver of client acquisition and growth for the Group, had 4.3 million customers at the end of September (+9% year-on-year) and business volumes of €24.3 billion (+18% year-on-year).

Banco BPI, CaixaBank’s wholly owned Portuguese subsidiary, also reported continued growth in business volumes (+7% in the last 12 months) as well as market share gains. The banking business in Portugal contributed €339 million to the Group's profits between January and September.

Declining NPLs, ample liquidity and organic capital generatio

CaixaBank has improved its financial position – one of the Group’s key strengths – delivering a declining NPL ratio, a rising coverage ratio, comfortable liquidity levels and robust organic capital generation.

NPLs decreased once again in the third quarter, to stand at €7.73 billion at the end of September, due to the positive organic trend in asset quality. As a result, the NPL ratio declined to 1.76%. Loan-loss provisions totalled €6.31 billion and the coverage ratio improved to 82%. Furthermore, the cost of risk (last 12 months) remained low, at 0.24%.

Total liquid assets amounted to €151.51 billion, and the Group's Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR) stood at 178%, showing a comfortable liquidity position and remaining well above the minimum requirement of 100%.

In terms of capital, the Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio stood at 12.5% at the end of September, reflecting the one-off impact (-20 bps) of the eighth share buyback programme for €500 million, announced in April.

Excluding this one-off impact, the CET1 ratio improved by 14 bps during the first nine months of the year driven by strong capital generation (+202 bps), offset by organic growth in risk-weighted assets (-43 bps), the dividend accrual for the year (payout of 60%) and the AT1 coupon payment (-127 bps), as well as market performance and other factors (-18 bps).

Interim dividend in November

CaixaBank’s Board of Directors approved the dividend plan for 2026 in January, with a cash payout of between 50% and 60% of consolidated net profit. The payout would be made in two instalments: an interim dividend of between 30% and 40% of consolidated net profit for the first half of 2026 (payable in November), and a final dividend, subject to approval by the General Shareholders' Meeting (payable in April 2027).

According to this plan, at its last meeting the Board approved the payment of an interim dividend of 40% of consolidated net profit for the first half of 2026, for a total amount of €1.28 billion (€0.1844 gross per share), payable on 6 November.

The Group’s sound profitability and strong financial position allow it to maintain an appropriate level of shareholder remuneration, which in turn directly benefits society, since around 50% of the dividend is received by the ”la Caixa” Foundation and the FROB. Furthermore, most of CaixaBank’s more than 500,000 shareholders (as of the end of September 2026) are retail investors.

Firmly committed to society

As part of its commitment to people and to society, CaixaBank is present in about 3,700 municipalities with a branch, ATM or mobile office, and has around 469,000 customers with basic payment accounts. Furthermore, it promotes saving for the future: more than one million customers make regular contributions towards their retirement and more than 3.7 million hold medium- and long-term savings products.

MicroBank, CaixaBank's social bank, has granted 276,014 microcredits to entrepreneurs in the last 12 months for an amount of €2.46 billion, facilitating the creation of more than 28,000 jobs.

Training and employability initiatives have been carried out through CaixaBank Dualiza, with 67,000 students benefiting since its launch; while Voluntariado CaixaBank has further expanded its reach this year, with 25,000 volunteers taking part in activities to support vulnerable groups.

Lastly, as part of its commitment to a more sustainable economy, the bank has mobilised more than €92 billion in sustainable finance since the start of its 2025-2027 Strategic Plan.