Sabadell earns €1.775 billion in 2025, down 2.8%, after the failed takeover bid

BarcelonaFor Banc Sabadell, 2025 was a year marked by BBVA's takeover bid, which ultimately failed for the Basque bank. However, during the year, the bank, chaired by Josep Oliu and still headed by CEO César González-Bueno –He announced his retirement this Thursday and will leave his post in May – earned €1.775 billion, slightly less than the previous year (-2.8%), when the figure was €1.827 billion. However, the bank maintains that net profit, excluding extraordinary items, increased by 3.4% compared to the previous year.

The bank has also announced an €800 million share buyback plan that will begin next Monday, February 9. This figure includes €365 million charged against 2025 results, plus €435 million from excess capital generated above the 13% target. In this respect, this €800 million remuneration, together with the €700 million distributed as cash dividends against 2025 results, brings the total remuneration for the year to €1.5 billion.

In addition, as announced by the entity during the takeover battle, Sabadell will pay an extraordinary dividend of 50 cents per share. through the sale of Santander's British subsidiary, TSBThis means distributing around €4 billion to shareholders over twelve months. "Even if TSB is sold, shareholder returns don't decrease because we've removed shares from circulation through buybacks, thus increasing the shareholder's share price, and the dividend payout is very large," noted the bank's CFO, Sergi Palavecino. Much of the press conference focused on the professional future of César González-Bueno, who stated that he doesn't yet know what he will do but has ruled out the Spanish banking sector. "I have no idea what I'll do; I'll certainly be working less, and the only thing I'm sure of is that I won't work in banking in Spain again. I have too many friends and too much respect, besides a non-compete clause," he said. González-Bueno will be succeeded by Marc Armengol, CEO of TSB, once the sale of the British subsidiary to Santander is finalized.

The Ghost of the Takeover

BBVA's takeover bid for Sabadell caused strain on the balance sheets of both banks, which spent thousands of euros, effort, personnel, and time on the process. "It was a good year, full of turbulence, but a good year," said the outgoing CEO, César González-Bueno, during the press conference presenting the results. Although he declined to clarify the exact impact of the takeover bid on the balance sheets—BBVA also refrained from detailing it in its results presentation this Thursday—González-Bueno asserted that this effect has already dissipated: "We have already recovered the double-digit commercial momentum towards positive sales growth in December 2025 compared to December 2024; the impact of the takeover bid is marginal," he affirmed.

In the words of the Chief Financial Officer, Sergi Palavecino, "part of the takeover bid costs were already incurred in 2024 [the takeover bid began in April of that year] and were distributed throughout 2025, and now they have also been offset by other factors." "Therefore, we cannot assume that the decrease due to extraordinary items is entirely due to the takeover bid; there's a bit of everything," he clarified.

Furthermore, regarding possible mergers and acquisitions by Sabadell, the CEO stated that, although now "is not the time for inorganic growth in Spain," it is possible that "in the long term there will eventually be some movement." "Right now, the conditions aren't right. Everyone is still growing, but there will come a time when, with this competitive advantage that Sabadell has, it may make sense to undertake some consolidation," he affirmed.

As a result of the takeover bid, changes also occurred on the board, after investor David Martínez Guzmán, a Sabadell board member until November, decided to sell his shares to BBVA during the takeover. Following the outcome, Martínez himself announced his departure from the board, a position now filled by Carles Ventura, a long-time employee of the bank, who has also been appointed managing director of business in Spain.

Increased lending

The bank remains committed to the objectives of its 2025-2027 strategic plan and has announced plans to increase commercial activity in Spain at a faster pace than the market in most business segments. It also expects to grow its loan portfolio, improve its risk profile, increase revenue, and maintain efficient cost management. Sabadell has also increased its outstanding loan portfolio by 2.4% "thanks to strong performance in Spain," the bank states, with growth in all segments, reaching €160.708 billion. Specifically, outstanding loan portfolio (including TSB) closed last December with a balance of €119.615 billion, 5.4% higher than the previous year; a figure that rises to €103.300 billion (+5.2%) after excluding international operations. In Spain, mortgage lending rose 5.2% year-on-year to €39.8 billion. The largest increase was in consumer credit, which reached €5.4 billion, 17.8% more than the previous year. As for loans and credit to businesses, the total portfolio grew by 2.4% year-on-year to €44.8 billion. Credit card transactions also showed a positive trend, increasing by 6% year-on-year to €26.611 billion; and POS terminal transactions increased by 2% year-on-year to €57.947 billion.

Regarding banking business income (net interest income plus net fees), it totaled €6.221 billion for 2025 (-2.5%). Net interest income reached €4.837 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 3.7%, in line with expectations, mainly due to lower interest rates, according to the bank. Finally, the group's non-performing loan ratio improved to 2.37%.