Spain, the land of the siesta and mañana? Forget the inaccurate stereotypes. Spain is the land of some of the most efficient universal banks in the world. The average cost/income ratio for Spain’s three largest quoted banks is 43%, according to The Banker data, and all three have plans for it to fall substantially – by at least 400 basis points – by 2010.
The three, Grupo Santander, BBVA and Banco Popular Español, are involved in financial services ranging from pensions to consumer finance. The first two also have substantial operations abroad in developing markets. They posted increases in pre-tax profits for 2006 of 15%, 26% and 22% respectively (see table).
