Bankia : “We are coming to the end of the Restructuring Plan, financially sound, in a leading position in terms of profitability and solvency, attracting new customers and winning market share in key segments”, said José Sevilla

• 'We are attracting more customers, who are more satisfied and increasingly recommend us, which is translating into greater market share'
• Bankia doubled the number of new mortgages it agreed to March after eliminating the fees associated with its mortgage loans

Bankia's CEO, José Sevilla, today revealed that 2017 will be the last year of the bank's Restructuring Plan approved by the authorities in 2012, explaining that Bankia is entering this stage, 'financially sound, in a leading position in terms of solvency, efficiency and profitability, with enormous commercial dynamism that is enabling it to attract new clients and win market share in key segments'.

During his speech at the 24th Meeting of the Financial Sector, Sevilla emphasised that from 2018 onwards Bankia will be able to develop new businesses that it has been unable to develop over the last five years and carry out corporate transactions, such as the one it is currently negotiating with BMN, which 'will facilitate privatisation' of the bank and 'repayment of the public funds it has received'.

We are attracting more customers, who are more satisfied and increasingly recommend us, which is translating into greater market share

Sevilla explained that in January 2016 Bankia launched its new commercial position based on eliminating fees and simplifying the relationship with its customers. 'We began with retail customers, we extended it to self-employed and digital customers, and in January this year we applied it to new mortgages', he said.

'The results have been immediate. We are attracting more customers, who are more satisfied and increasingly recommend us, which is translating into greater market share', said Bankia's CEO.

In the first quarter of this year, after announcing in January the elimination of fees on new loans (provided that the customer's salary is paid into the bank), Bankia doubled the number of new loans it has agreed, said the bank's CEO. 'These mortgages do not require any other product to be taken out', he explained.

Financially, Bankia has been transformed from being ranked last of the six major banks in 2013 following its recapitalisation in terms of solvency, efficiency and profitability, to being the leading bank for these three aspects in 2016 based on its activities in Spain.

Bankia's efforts to restructure itself have been fundamental in this turnaround, enabling it to cut operating expenses to less than 50% of the average of its main competitors, which improves profitability.

Thanks to the results obtained over the last four years, Bankia has been able to distribute €820 million in dividends, a key factor in repaying the public funds it received. Bankia has now returned more than €1.8 billion taking into account the amounts received by the State and privatisation of a 7.5% stake in the bank.