Global profits for The Banker’s Top 1000 World Banks ranking for 2014, based on financial results for the end of 2013, have jumped by almost 23%, to $920bn. This means annual profits have for the first time exceeded the pre-crisis peak of $786bn in the 2007 ranking. Of course, the lesson of the crisis is to question whether these impressive results are sustainable.
The Banker’s steadily deepening coverage of a growing number of data points for the banks in this ranking enables detailed analysis of that question. The first obvious answer is that banks are stronger than ever. The level of capital held by banks in this ranking continues to accelerate, with the minimum Tier 1 capital required to enter the Top 1000 World Banks now fast approaching $400m. This has almost doubled since the 2005 ranking.
