Last year, the Montepio bank posted a consolidated positive result of EUR 33.8 million, five times more than the EUR 6.6 million at the end of 2021, the institution said in a statement to the market.
In the note released by the Securities Market Commission, Montepio said it ended the year with “a positive consolidated net result of EUR 33.8 million, representing an increase of EUR 27.2 million compared to the EUR 6.6 million registered in 2021”. .
“This favorable evolution was driven by the increase in banking income, with an emphasis on net interest income and commissions, by the decrease in operating costs and by lower credits for write-downs and provisions, in particular those related to credit risk,” said the Bank. .
Thus, the variation in the net result shows “the growth of the company, the improvement of efficiency and the reduction of risk costs, despite the significant weight of the regulatory contributions to the banking sector, which amounted to 25.9 million euros”.
The institution also stressed that these results “reflect the significant progress Banco Montepio has made in reducing non-performing assets and non-strategic assets, with the aim of reducing balance sheet risk and strengthening capital ratios to levels well above regulatory requirements are growth of the company, which enabled a significant improvement in productivity”.
According to the bank, its core banking product reached EUR 372 million, a year-on-year increase of EUR 24.7 million, with its financial margin registering “an 8.1% increase from EUR 232.6 million in 2021 to EUR 251 .5 million euros”. 2022″.
Net commissions, on the other hand, increased by 5.1% (+5.8 million euros) in 2022 to 120.5 million euros, thanks to the implementation of a series of initiatives to adapt Banco Montepio’s value proposition to customer service”.
At the same time, loans to customers excluding impairments rose to 11.7 billion euros, “0.7% above the value recorded in December 2021,” Montepio said.
In turn, deposits “totaled EUR 13.1 billion, a positive variation of 3.2% compared to the end of 2021,” he indicated.
According to information released by the bank, the cost of credit risk was 0.1% last year, “compared to the 0.4% recorded in 2021, supported by the increase in the quality of the loan portfolio granted”.
On the other hand, Montepio highlighted the “reduction in non-performing exposures (NPEs) by EUR 328 million (-34%) compared to the value of December 31, 2021, with an NPE ratio of 5.3% and a favorable comparison with the 8.0% calculated at the end of 2021, representing the largest annual decline in the ratio (-2.7 pp) in the past 7 years.
The bank also recorded a “strengthening of NPE impairment coverage levels to 56.5% (53.5% at December 31, 2021) and 103.9% (96.0% at year-end 2021) when viewed as collateral and associated financial guarantees “, as well as a “sharp reduction in real estate risk exposure to 398 million euros (-30% year-on-year) at the end of 2022, representing only 2.1% of total assets (2.9% at the end of 2021)” .
At the end of last year, “capital ratios again evolved favorably compared to the end of 2021, due to the further reduction of risk-weighted assets (RWA) and the contribution of the results of the 2022 financial year”, Montepio stressed.
“At the end of 2022, the Tier 1 Core Equity (CET1) ratio, calculated using the phasing-in rules, was 13.7%, a positive variation of 1.0 pp compared to the end of 2022-2021”, and “Against the ‘fully implemented’ rules, the CET1 stood at 13.2% (11.8% at the end of 2021), revealing a comfortable position above the regulatory minimum requirement of 9.08%,” he said.
Common Equity Tier 1 is a benchmark for assessing a bank’s solvency.
Montepio closed 89 branches and relieved 527 employees from October 2020 to December 2022
Banco Montepio closed 89 branches between October 2020 and December 2022, including 15 last year, still cutting 527 employees in the same roughly two-year period, according to a statement released today.
In the note, published by the Securities Market Commission (CMVM), which reports on the bank’s results for 2022, Montepio took stock of its operational adjustment.
“As part of the implementation of the retail network adjustment process and after adequate analyzes regarding geographic coverage, profitability and market size, Banco Montepio closed 89 branches (-27%) between October 2020 and December 2022, of which 15 (-6%) during the year 2022,” he said.
For example, Montepio had 239 branches in Portugal at the end of last year.
The institution also revealed that its workforce “totalled 3,406 people at the end of 2022, with a decrease of 527 (-13%) compared to October 2020”, and “the implementation of the Progress and Termination by Mutual Agreement reform program began in the fourth quarter of 2020 was responsible for 87% of the verified reduction”.
In 2022, the institution will reduce its workforce by 72 people, he said.
According to information released by the bank today, Montepio recorded a reduction in operating expenses from EUR 254.4 million in 2021 to EUR 246.4 million in 2022, “which translates into a decrease of EUR 8 million embodied in the verified decreases in personnel costs by EUR 6.5 million (-4.1%), with the synergies resulting from the implementation of the workforce adjustment plan, in general administrative costs by EUR 1.6 million (-2.5%) and in depreciation and amortization of 0.1 million euros (-0.1%) are absorbed”.
In addition, the bank indicated: “Excluding extraordinary and one-off costs related to the personnel adjustment program, personnel costs in 2022 recorded a decrease of 2.2% (-3.2 million euros) compared to the value of 2021”.
Montepio also revealed that “total liabilities with the pension fund amounted to EUR 648.4 million at the end of 2022, a decrease of EUR 207.9 million compared to the amount recorded at the end of 2021, mainly supported by the recognition of positive actuarial misstatements due to of changes in discount rate assumptions, changes in wages and pensions and mortality tables”.
For example, the value of the pension fund’s assets “as of December 31, 2022 amounted to 787 million euros, a decrease of 79.2 million euros compared to the calculated value at the end of 2021”.
Source: DN
