Spanish banks are reporting record profits on the back of continued growth in mortgages, consumer credit and, for Grupo BBVA and Grupo Santander, their Latin American operations.
Some of the old chestnuts are still there: the banks are still losing market share to the cajas (savings banks), Santander is still trying to improve its customer service while rumoured to be looking at another UK acquisition, while BBVA is still looking for a non-Latin American acquisition to lower its dependence on the region (44% of 2005 net attributable profit compared with 32% for Santander, according to Standard & Poor’s).
