Europe dominates again, with the EU25 accounting for 286 banks and the Rest of Europe category, including Russia and Switzerland for example, accounting for another 96, bringing the European total to 382, compared with 389 last year.
The US remains the next largest grouping with the same level of 197 banks, followed by an expanding Asia, up seven to 163, and a declining Japan, down five to 101. The Middle East is down three to 83 but profits are well up as are those of the increasing number of Latin American banks, up four to 44.
The key change in the 2006 listing is that growth in all key indicators slowed significantly with growth in aggregate Tier 1 capital, assets and pre-tax profits declining to 3.7%, 5.5% and 18.6% respectively, compared with higher growth rates last year of 15.2%, 15.5% and 30.3% respectively. These results led to a decline in the Tier 1 capital:assets ratio to 4.45%, down from 4.53%, but also record profits ratios – a rise to 22.7% in the return on capital ratio, more than double the return in our 1999 listing, and a rise to 1.01% in the return on assets ratio.
TOTAL TIER 1 CAPITAL ($BN) TOTAL PRE-TAX PROFITS ($BN) TOTAL ASSETS ($TRILLION) PRE-TAX PROFIT: TIER 1 CAPITAL (%)
