Mergers work through with little change and aggregate Tier 1 capital is up.
The Top 300 European Banks listing seems to be in a holding pattern this year with little significant change except improved performance. The mergers of last year have worked through without resulting in major changes in the placings in the listing, although we said farewell to Banca Comerciala Romana, Banca Antonveneta, Banca Nazionale de Lavoro and Koçbank, whose figures are now consolidated into those of their new owners or those of the continuing entity in Koçbank’s case.
Next year promises further changes because the Intesa-Sanpaolo IMI merger was completed earlier this year, Unicredit-Capitalia will be complete by the end of September and the other Italian mergers will probably all work through by the year end. The ABN AMRO takeover saga may also be finished by then. The fallout from the current credit crisis may well claim further victims. Northern Rock may not survive as an independent entity, Landesbank Sachsen will merge into Landesbank Baden-Württemberg, and the future of IKB Deutsche Industriebank remains uncertain.
There were 19 new arrivals this year, led by Merrill Lynch International Bank following the merger of the two Merrill subsidiaries: Merrill Lynch International Bank, based in London, with Merrill Lynch Capital Markets Bank, based in Dublin. The new entity retained the London bank’s name but is based in Dublin. Four Russian banks headed by International Moscow Bank joined the listing along with Privatbank from the Ukraine.
The aggregate Tier 1 capital of the Top 300 increased this year to $1576.6bn compared with $1306.5bn last year, a rise of 20.7%. Aggregate assets grew by 21.2% from $35,929.8bn to $43,558.1bn, and aggregate pre-tax profits grew 36.4% to $381.4bn. The continued strength of the euro and other currencies against the dollar was a factor but economic growth was the major driver, especially in the newer EU countries.
The catch-all category ‘Others’ was the largest grouping this year with 63 banks, due mainly to the increase in Russian bank representation. Germany was the largest individual country, with 50 banks represented, followed by Spain (41), Switzerland (32) and Italy (26).
