Grupo Cajamar posts profit of €326 million thanks to the income strength from banking business

Grupo Cooperativo Cajamar posted record figures in 2024, supported by the strong performance of core banking business income. The momentum and resilience of financial activity drove double-digit growth in all income statement margins, helping to improve profitability and efficiency while keeping capital adequacy at solid levels.

• All banking business margins record double-digit growth, reflecting the strong performance of the business and robustness of the income statement. Net interest income increased by 14.3%, gross income by 16.6% and pre-provision profit by 20.7% year-on-year. 
• Customer funds under management rose by 10.8% to €57,952 million, buoyed by both on-balance-sheet customer funds, which grew by 8.5%, and off-balance-sheet customer funds, which are up 22.3%, thanks to dynamic investment fund sales.
• The quality and diversification of the loan portfolio consolidate Grupo Cajamar as one of the significant institutions with the lowest NPL ratio, at 1.93%, well below the industry average. 
• The strength of eligible capital, with year-on-year growth of 6.7%, pushed the phased-in total capital ratio up to 16.1% and the phased-in CET1 ratio to 13.9%.

Results

Grupo Cooperativo Cajamar posted record figures in 2024, supported by the strong performance of core banking business income. The momentum and resilience of financial activity drove double-digit growth in all income statement margins, helping to improve profitability and efficiency while keeping capital adequacy at solid levels.

Against this positive backdrop, the three rating agencies that assess Grupo Cajamar's credit quality —S&P, Fitch and DBRS Morningstar— all upgraded the Group's credit rating to investment grade during the past year.

Turning to the income statement, net interest income continued its upward trend with 14.3% year-on-year growth to €1,215 million. Combined with a 16.7% rise in the contribution from joint business ventures —including equity-accounted entities, insurance and pension plan commissions, consumer finance and investment funds— this lifted gross income to €1,552 million, up 16.6%.

Pre-provision profit stood at €819 million, a 20.7% increase, driving a 14.7% rise in the operating result (operating revenues less operating expenses) and an improvement in the cost-income ratio of 1.8 percentage points year-on-year to 47.2%.

Grupo Cooperativo Cajamar achieved record profit, with consolidated net profit reaching €326 million, 157% higher than the previous year, despite allocating €430.6 million to provisions, impairment allowances and writedowns of financial and non-financial assets, in line with its prudent management model. The return on equity (ROE) also improved to 7.8%, up 4.5 percentage points year-on-year.

Commercial Activity

The strong performance of customer funds under management and the year-on-year growth in performing loans lifted the total volume of funds managed to €104,121 million, up 5.8% on the previous year. 

Performing loans totalled €38,584 million, a 4.3% increase year-on-year, with loans to businesses growing by 9.2%. The well-diversified loan portfolio included new lending to the corporate and agri-food sectors totalling €17,432 million, of which 42.5% went to the agri-food sector, 33% to large companies and 24.5% to small businesses and SMEs. This distribution underscores the continued strategic importance of the agri-food sector for the Group, which maintains its market-leading position in lending to the primary sector, with a 15.2% market share. 

Once again, Grupo Cooperativo Cajamar remains one of the significant Spanish institutions with the lowest NPL ratio, at 1.93%, well below the industry average. At the same time, the NPL coverage ratio continues its upward climb, reaching 72.1%. 

Customer funds under management rose to €57,952 million, up 10.8%, underpinned by an 8.5% increase in on-balance sheet customer funds and a 22.3% rise in off-balance sheet customer funds, mainly due to strong investment fund sales, which surged by 33.7%, far exceeding the sector average of 14.7%. As a result of this positive trend, the market share of deposits increased to 2.84%, 0.14 percentage points higher than in the same quarter of the previous year.
 
Customer Service

The 5,062 professionals at Grupo Cooperativo Cajamar continue to provide close and personalised service to over 3.8 million customers through 976 branches and rural counters, including 8 mobile branches that deliver financial services to 54 small towns with populations ranging from 170 to 1,500 inhabitants. Customers are also served through digital channels, including the app, digital banking and electronic banking. 

This professional and personal approach to customer care helped rank Grupo Cajamar as the second-best rated significant Spanish bank in customer satisfaction over the past 12 months, according to Stiga, a consultancy specialising in measuring, analysing and improving customer experience. 

Capital Adequacy and Liquidity

The 6.7% year-on-year increase in eligible capital strengthened the Group's position, with a phased-in total capital ratio of 16.1% and a phased-in CET1 ratio of 13.9%. These figures allow Grupo Cajamar to maintain a comfortable capital buffer above regulatory solvency requirements, recording an excess of €805 million. The MREL ratio increased by 1.5 percentage points to 24.52%, surpassing the final requirement of 23.08% set for 1 January 2025. 

Growth in customer funds under management and access to wholesale markets, with senior debt and mortgage bond issuances totalling €1,100 million in 2024, allow Grupo Cajamar to maintain a strong liquidity position. The liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) thus stands at 218.1%, the net stable funding ratio (NSFR) at 152.5% and the loan-to-deposit ratio (LTD) at 79.6%. Additionally, the Group has mortgage covered bond issuance capacity of €3,686 million.

Sustainable Finance

As a cooperative bank, Cajamar has been actively supporting and assisting those affected by the dana storms in the regions of Valencia, Málaga and Cuenca. To this end, it has joined the ICO financing schemes, which aim to mobilise €5,000 million in loans to help those impacted. These initiatives complement the measures implemented by Grupo Cajamar to mitigate the damage caused by the storms, including financing lines offering subsidy advances and personal loans at 0% interest for affected individuals; mortgage loans for investment in facilities, machinery and vehicles, also at 0% interest for the first year; leasing transactions at 0% interest for the first year for self-employed workers and businesses; and the possibility of mortgage payment moratoriums for individual customers, self-employed workers, and small businesses in areas declared disaster zones. 

Cajamar also continues to strengthen its commitment to sustainability. In this regard, it has joined the Network of Companies Committed to Diversity and Inclusion (ECDI), which promotes the principles of diversity, equality and inclusion. Additionally, as a "TNFD early adopter" entity, in 2024, it published a report identifying the environmental impacts, risks, and opportunities in its operations. 

In line with its mission, purpose and origins, Grupo Cajamar remains a benchmark in the agri-food sector, supporting it through a broad and specialised range of financial products and services, as well as specialised technical advisory programmes. This commitment is embodied in its knowledge ecosystem, which in 2025 marks 50 years since its inception.

In 1975, Cajamar’s Governing Board approved the use of its first profits to establish an agri-food experimental station in Paraje de Las Palmerillas, Almería. Initially, a small team of agronomic experts began research, innovation, and agricultural analysis to help farmers —often lacking knowledge and experience— confidently adopt new agronomic techniques in underdeveloped farming operations. 

Over the years, Cajamar has continued allocating its profits and personnel to the development of this knowledge ecosystem. Today, it operates two experimental centres, with a second facility in Paiporta, Valencia complementing the original centre in Almería. At both sites, researchers and professionals conduct international research, publish reports, analyses, studies and other materials.

In 2024, 2,765 people visited these centres, which hosted 123 training courses in face-to-face, webinar and online formats. In terms of publications, 12 books, 280 articles and 45 economic reports were produced last year. 

In recent years, Cajamar has also launched Cajamar Innova, a high-tech water and agrotech incubator that fosters innovative ideas and business initiatives aimed at improving sustainable water management and new agri-food production technologies. More than 70 startups have already participated in its incubation and acceleration programmes.  

The latest initiative incorporated into this knowledge community is Plataforma Tierra, which promotes the digital transformation of the agri-food sector. The platform recorded over 1.1 million visits to its content and tools in 2024. Additionally, Cajamar collaborates with the Observatory for the Digitalisation of the Spanish Agri-Food Sector, an initiative of Spain’s Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.