The most relevant aspects of earnings in this area in the first nine months of 2012 are summarized below:
- Net interest income was less negative than in the same period of 2011, with –€404m as of September 2012, compared with –€460m 12 months earlier. This heading has continued to improve as a result of positive management of the structural interest-rate risk against the backdrop of falling interest rates.
- Favorable performance of NTI, basically as a result of the capital gains recorded on the repurchase of securitization bonds in the second quarter of 2012. As a result, there was significant growth of 158.8% in NTI over the last 12 months to
- €415m.
- Gross income was a negative €79m, which compares favorably with the figure posted in the same period in 2011 (a
- negative €290m).
- Operating expenses continue to reflect the Group’s investment effort in staff training, technology, brand and infrastructure. They increased by 12.5% year-on-year to €789m
- There was a significant additional increase in provisions to absorb the impairment on the real estate and foreclosed assets in Spain, and the Unnim operation generated badwill.
- As a result, net attributable profit in the area between January and September 2012 was a negative €971m, compared with a negative €737m 12 months earlier. This more negative performance than in the same period of the previous year is due to the provisioning effort mentioned above, since operating income performed better than in the first nine months of 2011.