CaixaBank's Growth Engine Revs: Loan Book Accelerates, Services Outperform, NII Forecast Intact
Spain's largest bank delivers double-digit loan growth and fee momentum while holding NII guidance amid a volatile rate curve.
CABK.MC · Earnings Call · 2026-07-29
A Quarter of Commercial Momentum
CaixaBank's second quarter of 2026 was a beat on nearly every commercial metric. Customer funds and performing loans both grew 8% year-on-year, well above internal expectations. “customer funds and performing loans, both growing 8% level, well above what we were expecting” — Gonzalo Gortázar Rotaeche · 2026-07-29 Net income rose 10% YoY to €1.63bn, and RoTE hit 18%, consistent with the path toward the >18% full-year target. Loan growth was broad-based: residential mortgages up 6.7%, consumer lending up 11.5%, and business lending in double digits. The bank is gaining market share in SMEs and consumer credit, while the international CIB book—now just above €40bn—continues to expand but at a deliberately slowing pace. CEO Gonzalo Gortázar highlighted the risk-adjusted returns of ~20% on these international branches, which are concentrated in London, Frankfurt, Paris, and Milan. The loan yield is set to improve as front-book pricing turns accretive.NII: Holding the Line on 2027
NII rose 3.5% YoY and 2.5% sequentially, as the drag from floating-rate loan repricing was more than offset by volumes and ALCO contributions. The customer spread dipped to 2.89% due to technical and non-recurring items (mostly in Portugal), but management expects a recovery back toward 300bps by year-end. Market rates continue to steepen, and the bank reiterated its 2027 NII target of ~€12.5bn. CFO Javier Pano stated: “We are today reconfirming our targets for 2027 that were revised upwards in January.” — Javier Pano Riera, CFO · 2026-07-29 The deposit beta remains on track, with customer deposit costs expected to average just below 50bps for the year. On deposit competition, CEO Gonzalo Gortázar had noted in January: “On deposits, I would say no change. We're not changing our strategy, and we are very comfortable about our position.” — Gonzalo Gortázar Rotaeche, CEO · 2026-01-30Capital: The Buyback Machine Keeps Running
CaixaBank generated 69bps of CET1 capital in the quarter, ending at 12.54%, while actively using SRTs to keep RWA growth below loan growth. The board plans an interim dividend of 30-40% of H1 net income, and management reiterated its policy of returning excess capital via share buybacks. As CEO Gonzalo Gortázar said in January: “No change in capital. This is higher growth, higher profitability, but also higher capital available for shareholders.” — Gonzalo Gortázar Rotaeche, CEO · 2026-01-30 Capital generation remains robust, underpinning a shareholder-friendly stance without impeding organic expansion.Beyond the Core: Services and International
Revenue from services grew 7.4% YoY, beating the 5% guidance, driven by wealth management (AUMs above €300bn, net inflows of €4.3bn) and protection insurance (+11.8% premiums). The bank chose not to upgrade the guidance, as the ROTE target is already open-ended and can absorb any outperformance. The CEO noted: “The speed at which we are operating now suggests there is a very clear upside. There's no question in revenues from services.” — Gonzalo Gortázar Rotaeche · 2026-07-29 The international CIB loan book is a strategic differentiator.The book is investment-grade, with ~20% risk-adjusted returns, and provides diversification beyond Spain and Portugal. Finally, the bank's AI transformation is accelerating: 40% of product inquiries are now handled automatically, and an AI agent is being deployed to support commercial interviews across the network. These investments are part of a €5bn digital plan and are expected to drive productivity gains from 2027 onwards. Overall, CaixaBank is executing on all cylinders—commercial growth, capital discipline, and cost control—while maintaining a cautious stance on NII guidance. The combination of loan acceleration and stable fees makes this a high-quality beat in a volatile rate environment.We started there with basically nothing 12 years ago. We have grown our presence gradually over these 12 years to make sure that we make no mistakes.