BCP registers a net profit of €183M in 2020

BCP recorded a net profit of 183 million euros in 2020, in line with what analysts had expected, this being a 39.4% reduction on the previous year and explained by the impact caused by the pandemic. Like other banks, the institution led by Miguel Maya also recorded an expressive reinforcement of impairment and provisions that totalled 841.2 million. This information was made available by the Portuguese bank on CMVM’s website.

“It was an extremely complex year, full of ambiguities and uncertainty,” said the bank’s CEO, also highlighting the “significant reinforcement of impairments and other provisions.”

The bank stressed in a statement that earnings before impairments and provisions increased by 1.5% to 1,186.2 million euros. “This better reflects the value of the franchise,” said BCP’s CEO.

Maya explained that 300 million euros in impairments and provisions are related to the Covid-19 pandemic, while another 151 million euros is due to legal risks associated with mortgage loans in Poland, the so-called “Frankowicze” case. The Polish regulator has proposed a settlement to Bank Millennium that could cost 239 million euros to BCP.

From a business point of view, BCP registered a 1% fall in net interest income, to 1.533 billion euros. Operating income fell by the same amount to 2.3 billion.

In relation to operating costs, the bank said they were “under control” after a 4% drop to 1.12 billion euros.

Looking at the balance sheet, BCP increased its loan portfolio by 3.4% to 54 billion euros, while deposits also rose by 3.4% to 64.7 billion.

On asset quality, the CEO said he could not recall such a low level of non-performing loans ratio in the last decade, with BCP recording an NPL ratio of 3.1%, down 1 percentage point compared to last year.

The Portuguese bank ended 2020 with capital ratios in line with those of 2019, with the CET1 ratio at 12.2%.