The CEO of Bankia, José Sevilla, said that the current context, in which the health crisis caused by COVID-19 has impacted the economy and interest rates are still negative, may be a breeding ground for mergers.

'You might say that this situation offers certain incentives for consolidation. We will see it in the coming months. The ECB has produced a guide to clarify its criteria and principles for consolidation and it is possible that this will generate a favourable climate', he explained at a press conference during which he presented the results of the second quarter of year.

In this regard, he said that Bankia is a good candidate for mergers in general, having been one of the few banks to integrate (with BMN), in recent years. In his opinion, in theory 'well-designed' mergers add value and possibly bring synergies and enhance profitability. However, the CEO of the bank added that there are no specific operations 'on nor under the table'.

On the other hand, Sevilla has ruled out the possibility that Bankia will end 2020 in losses and insists that forecasts suggest that the financial margin and income from fees will be higher in the second semester than in the first half and that expenses and adjustments will remain flat.

In the first half of the year, Bankia obtained a net profit of 142 million euros after allocating 310 million euros to extraordinary provisions for COVID-19. The bank has succeeded in generating capital that has allowed it to raise the CET1 ratio by 100 basic points in just three months, reaching 13.95%, after incorporating the regulatory easing measures.

Finally, the CEO talked about the distribution of capital above the 12% CET1FL established in the strategic plan and, although he pointed out that this objective is under review, he added that the Bankia management team intends to 'use the excess capital to make value for shareholders'. 'That is our objective', he added.

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Bankia SA published this content on 28 July 2020 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 30 July 2020 13:15:14 UTC