Grupo Cajamar posts a profit of €178 million for the first half on the back of improved commercial activity
Grupo Cooperativo Cajamar’s commercial activity continued its positive trend in the first half of the year, taking total business volume to €108,370 million.
- Strong core banking revenue generation in the current interest rate environment has driven gross income to €733.2 million, supported by an 11.8% increase in total fee and commission income, mainly from the sale of insurance, pension plans, consumer products and investment funds.
- Loan book growth of 7.6% to €40,475 million strengthens the quality and diversification of the portfolio, while Grupo Cajamar is positioned as one of Spain’s significant institutions with the lowest NPL ratio, currently 1.78%.
- Customer funds under management rose 10.6% year-on-year, with on-balance-sheet funds up 7.6% and off-balance-sheet funds up 24.2%.
- Eligible capital rose to 8.9%, while the phased-in total capital ratio stood at 16.3% and the phased-in CET1 ratio at 14.1%.
Results
Grupo Cooperativo Cajamar’s commercial activity continued its positive trend in the first half of the year, with customer funds under management increasing by 10.6% and loans and receivables by 7.6%, taking total business volume to €108,370 million and total assets to €64,540 million. At the same time, the Group’s total capital ratio stands at 16.3% and its NPL ratio has fallen to 1.78%, one of the lowest among Spanish significant institutions.
Grupo Cajamar continues to deliver solid banking results despite the current interest rate environment. Fee and commission income from products and services rose by 9.1%, while disintermediation fees—from the distribution of insurance, pension plans, consumer products and investment funds—grew by 18.6%. However, these increases did not fully offset the 11.9% drop in net interest income. As a result, gross income came to €733.2 million, down 7.1% compared with the same period last year.
Operating income amounted to €361.7 million, with the cost-income ratio standing at 50.7%. After recognising €72.7 million in impairment losses on assets and €56.6 million in provisions and gains/losses, profit before tax reached €232.5 million, up 11.7% on the same period of the previous year. After deducting taxes, including €6.9 million relating to the tax on net interest and fee income, or IMIC (better known as the banking tax), consolidated net profit stood at €177.6 million, 2% higher year-on-year and in line with budget. Return on equity (ROE) stood at 8.03% at the end of the first half.
Commercial activity
Performing loans and receivables rose by 7.6% to €40,475 million, increasing the Group’s market share to 3.1%. The well-diversified loan book posted year-on-year growth of 14.4% in lending to businesses and underpins the Group’s leadership in agri-food financing—a strategic segment for the Group—with a 15.4% market share. Of all new corporate lending, 40.9% was directed to the agri-food sector, 30.2% to large corporates, 18.2% to small businesses and 10.6% to SMEs.
Customer funds under management increased by 10.6% year-on-year, driven by growth both in on-balance-sheet retail funds, which rose 7.6%, and in off-balance-sheet funds, which surged by 24.2%. Investment funds stood out, with a 35.7% increase in sales, well above the sector average of 12.6%. As a result, the Group’s deposit market share rose to 2.9%.
Customer Service
Grupo Cooperativo Cajamar has continued to achieve outstanding levels of customer satisfaction. According to the National Customer Satisfaction Benchmarking Report for the Financial Sector by Stiga consulting firm, which specialises in measuring, analysing and improving customer experience, the Group remains the second-best rated significant institution in Spain in this area.
The 5,129 professionals working at Grupo Cooperativo Cajamar provide close, personalised advice and support to its nearly 3.9 million customers through its 952 branches and rural offices. During the first half of the year—specifically, on 1 April—four new mobile branches began operating, bringing the total to twelve and providing financial services to 78 small towns and villages with populations ranging from 170 to 1,500 inhabitants. In addition, during this period Cajamar opened four new branches in Pollença, Los Palacios y Villafranca, San Sebastián and Vilagarcía de Arousa, complementing its services provided via digital channels: mobile app, online banking and electronic banking.
Asset quality and capital strength
Eligible capital increased by 8.9% year-on-year, taking the phased-in total capital ratio to 16.3% and the phased-in CET1 ratio to 14.1%. With these figures, Grupo Cajamar maintains comfortable buffers above regulatory capital requirements, with a surplus of €883 million. The MREL ratio rose to 24.5%, up 1.9 percentage points, exceeding the requirement in force as of 26 February 2025.
The reduction in total non-performing exposures by 1.9% left Grupo Cajamar with an NPL ratio of 1.78% at the end of the half-year, one of the lowest among Spanish significant institutions. The NPL coverage ratio increased by 6.2 percentage points to 75.2%, while the cost of credit risk fell to 0.34%. The stock of foreclosed assets (net) continued to decline, down 28.2%, improving both the foreclosed assets ratio, to 0.48%, and the net non-performing asset ratio, which now stands at 0.95%.
Access to wholesale markets—supported by a €500 million senior preferred debt issue in early June with a six-year maturity and demand totalling €1.6 billion (3.2 times the offer)—strengthens the Group’s strong liquidity position with diversified funding sources. The liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) stands at 226.4%, the net stable funding ratio (NSFR) at 149.7%, and the loan-to-deposit ratio (LTD) at 81.5%. In addition, the Group has covered bond issuance capacity of €3,833 million.
Sustainable finance
Grupo Cooperativo Cajamar, committed to the economic, social and environmental sustainability of the regions in which it operates, is one of the highest-rated companies in Morningstar Sustainalytics’ ESG Industry ranking, having received sector recognition for its management of environmental, social and corporate governance risks. In the same vein, Grupo Cooperativo Cajamar has reaffirmed its leadership in climate change and corporate transparency through recognition by CDP as one of just 346 companies worldwide to receive the highest score, an ‘A’, placing it in the Leadership category for its corporate transparency and performance on climate change. In addition, the Group has been included in CDP’s 2024 Supplier Engagement Rating (SER) ‘A List’, which assesses companies’ initiatives in governance, target-setting, Scope 3 emissions and value chain engagement.
In the first half of the year, the Group also published its 2024 Sustainability Report, which details its main initiatives and commitment to its values, people and the environment. Noteworthy among these is its dedication to financial inclusion, with 32.1% of branches and service points located in towns with fewer than 5,000 inhabitants, and the granting of more than €520 million in green financing and sustainable business initiatives.
During this same period, the Practical Guide for Preparing a Sustainability Report for Agri-food SMEs was launched as a practical resource to help businesses progressively incorporate ESG criteria into their management practices.
Finally, in mid-June, Cajamar celebrated the 50th anniversary of its ‘Las Palmerillas’ Experimental Station. Founded in 1975 to promote innovation among growers and technicians in Almeria’s intensive farming sector, it has become a leading technology hub at provincial, national and international level, serving as an open space for the generation of agronomic knowledge.
The event also marked the inauguration of the new facilities at the Experimental Station—a two-storey building covering more than 1,500 square metres, of which approximately 400 are dedicated to a biotechnology laboratory equipped with all the necessary tools to provide specialist services in bioproduct development, biomass, water and soil analysis, food technology and circular bioeconomy. The new facilities also include workspaces for Cajamar’s agronomy experts and the entrepreneurs of Cajamar Innova startups, as well as an auditorium with capacity for 160 people, enabling the Group to continue expanding and enhancing its efforts to generate and transfer agronomic knowledge and innovation to the sector and society at large.