MADRID, 9 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) -
WiZink obtained a net profit of 0.8 million euros in the first quarter of this year, which means multiplying by 2.4 its earnings for the same period of 2022, of 0.3 million euros, according to the primary public financial statements. of the credit institutions published today by the Bank of Spain.
This result is part of the implementation of its strategic plan, which includes a new diversified business model whose objective is to promote digital consumer financing and transform the credit card business in Spain.
The profit from the recurring business before taxes reached two million euros in the first quarter of 2023, 166% more than last year.
Gross margin fell by 6.18%, to 92.9 million, due to the growing weight of businesses on the balance sheet and their higher cost of financing in the current macroeconomic environment.
Likewise, operating expenses have fallen by 11%, to 46 million euros, while credit losses (financial assets at amortized cost) and expenses for other provisions have decreased slightly, by 3% compared to the same period. of the previous year, up to around 45 million euros.
In the first quarter, the bank has not made extraordinary provisions.
Likewise, the entity has presented a 'phase in' total capital ratio of 14.5% at the end of March.
BALANCE
Regarding the balance, the volume of loans granted to clients that the entity had at the end of March was 2,867 million, 0.85% more than in the same period of 2022.
Instead, it registered a fall of 15.33% in the volume of customer deposits, to 2,716 million euros. The loan-deposit ratio, however, was above 100%.
The entity has explained to Europa Press that the drop in the volume of deposits is a consequence of the optimization of the cost of funding that it is carrying out to reduce the excess liquidity generated during the pandemic, although "always maintaining a broad liquidity cushion". In this sense, at the end of March, WiZink's LCR (Liquidity Coverage Ratio) was 2905%.
The entity points out that a fundamental part of its strategy is savings, a business for which it has an "important" range of products. Currently, it offers three deposits at 12, 18 and 36 months with an APR of 3.30%, 3.00% and 2.50% respectively. Likewise, it has a savings account that remunerates with 1% APR.
In addition, the bank achieved 89,000 new clients in the quarter, of which 43% came from new businesses (Aplazame, Lendrock and personal loans), through which WiZink has granted more than 700,000 loans, which reached 293 million euros in their balance sheets at the end of March 2023, representing 10% of the total.
WiZink's financial director, José Antonio Lasa, has stated that these are "positive" results that reflect the advances in the diversification strategy and the commitment to profitable growth.
