CaixaBank again makes record profits and earns 3,203 million in the first semester

ValenciaNew semester of green numbers for CaixaBank, which has closed the first six months of 2026 with a net profit of 3,203 million euros, 8.5% more than in the same period last year. This was detailed this Wednesday by the company's CEO, Gonzalo Gortázar, during the presentation of the entity's results held in Valencia.

Despite the magnitude of the profits, which represent a historic record for the entity, the executive had to digest the disappointment of some investors who perhaps expected even better results. In fact, the bank's shares were down more than 6% shortly after the figures were made public. When asked if this response was motivated by the bank's refusal to increase its profit forecast for credit business, Gortázar opted for humor and took advantage of the company's Catalan origin to emphasize that its forecasts are always described as "conservative and cautious".

Along these lines, he completed the reflection by appealing to the fluctuating nature of a stock market in which "sometimes you go up and sometimes you go down." A volatility that he defended must be accepted "with sportsmanship".

Finally, he recalled that in the last five years the entity has multiplied its value by nine and that it has a share of the Spanish mortgage market of 24.7%, a segment in which they are growing at a rate of 8% while the sector average grows at 7%.

"Negative or zero rates were an aberration"

Aware of the likely press headlines, the CEO also appealed to the arguments he has been repeating for some time to try to contextualize the ever-increasing gains that impress many citizens. To this end, he emphasized that in recent years the company has tripled its capital and that, in his opinion, this means that comparatively they are not "historic or excessive profits".

For the banker, profits would only deserve these adjectives if they had grown as much as capital. Furthermore, he recalled years of more moderate results, especially the period 2016-2022, when interest rates were negative or practically zero, which reduced the profit margin for financial institutions. For Gortázar, that freezing of rates was literally an "aberration".

Beyond the net profit of 3,203 million euros, another piece of data that reflects the good moment CaixaBank is going through is the fact that the entity has incorporated 1.1 million new clients in the last 12 months and has reached a total of 20.9 million in Spain and Portugal. Despite being asked, Gortázar could not specify if this increase is much higher in percentage than that achieved by its competitors, given that he "does not know" the data.

What he did explain is that, according to the National Statistics Institute, 38% of Spaniards are clients of the company and that this high penetration also occurs among the younger segments of the population. "Imagin [the entity's digital bank] is eight times larger than the first neobank competitor [referring to Revolut]," highlighted the CEO, who added that half of these new savers have their salary directly deposited at CaixaBank, a figure that would demonstrate their close relationship. "They are real, active clients," stressed the Madrid executive before remarking: "Each entity defines what a client is differently, and for us, a client is not an ID number in a database".

“Our clients want to see people”

As happens to almost any business leader lately, Gortázar has also had to speak out about the use of artificial intelligence at CaixaBank. In this regard, he explained that 40% of the queries from users of its application are already resolved with this technology. However, he denied that this circumstance could cause any reduction in staff or closure of offices. Quite the contrary, he detailed that the company has increased by 2,500 employees in recent years.

Part of this growth has, admittedly, a close relationship with the bank's technology division, which has gone from 300 employees to 1,700. The other half, however, have been hired to staff its offices. "Our clients want to see people," he concluded.