The highlights of the Corporate Center’s earnings through September 2013 are listed below:
- NTI once again made a positive contribution with €110m, making a total of €325m through September, 49.9% more than in the same period of 2012. This performance is due basically to the capital gains from the unit responsible for holdings in financial and industrial companies and good management of the structural exchange-rate risk.
- Operating expenses of €810m between January and September increased 6.0% in year-on-year terms, less than in previous quarters. These continue to be affected mainly by the depreciation and amortization heading, which includes the investment effort in technology and infrastructure undertaken by the Group in recent months. In contrast, personnel and general expenses have declined compared with the figures registered in the same period in 2012.
- Net profit from discontinued operations includes the earnings from the pension business in Latin America, including the capital gains from the sale of the businesses in Mexico (first quarter), Colombia and Peru (both closed in April 2013). The capital gains from the sale of Provida (Chile) will be added to the earnings for the fourth quarter of 2013 (transaction closed on October 2). In total, this heading has contributed €1,400m, after tax, to the first nine months of the year.
- As a result, net attributable profit totals €307m through September, compared with €70m in the same period last year.