Sabadell said it now expects net interest income (NII) to grow by 5% for 2024, from a previous estimate of around 3%, and for NII to continue to grow in 2025 compared with this year.
In April, it predicted that the interest margin — the difference between lending profits minus deposit costs — would remain stable in 2025.
This margin rose 7.8% year-on-year in the second quarter to €1.26 billion, slightly above the €1.24 billion expected by analysts. Net interest income increased 2.5% compared to the previous quarter.
Sabadell also announced a shareholder payout policy of €2.9 billion from profits booked in 2024 and 2025, leaving the door open for even higher remuneration. This new figure has been revised upwards from the previous target of €2.4 billion, as part of the bank’s strategy to promote the idea that its business is better on its own.
Total shareholder remuneration includes €250 million resulting from the lower updated impact of the application of international capital standards and €250 million from a cancelled share buyback.
Sabadell said its board decided to distribute 60% of profits to investors from 2024 results, at the upper end of its pay-out policy of between 40% and 60%.
At 10:00 GMT, Sabadell shares were up 1% at 2.018 euros, their highest level in nine years, after having risen 15% since BBVA’s offer. BBVA is offering one newly issued share for 4.83 Sabadell shares, a 30% premium on the bank’s closing price on April 29.
The offer had valued Sabadell at 12.28 billion euros, but a 7.5 percent drop in BBVA shares since then has reduced that to 11.36 billion euros, according to Reuters calculations.
The bank’s fully-loaded tier-1 capital ratio, the most stringent measure of solvency, rose 18 basis points from the previous quarter to 13.48%.
Net profit rose 34.5% to €483 million in the April-June period, above the €422 million forecast by analysts, supported by an increase in new loans to companies, mortgages and consumer credit.
