In 2023, Cajamar Group finalized the consolidation of two dozen rural savings banks in the Valencian Community, strengthening the group’s overall performance. Net income reached 127 million euros, rising 67.6 percent from the previous year as solid banking activity supported typical income streams and improved credit quality. By year-end, irregular assets were cleared, helping the default rate fall to 2 percent and enhancing stability, coverage, and provisions while expanding solvency. These results reflect prudent risk management and disciplined capital planning across the cooperative network, as reported in the Cajamar Group’s 2023 annual review.
The total stock of questionable risks decreased by 235 million euros, a 23.1 percent drop, while net positive assets rose by 283 million euros, down 46.5 percent year over year, contributing to a 0.6 percentage point improvement in the default rate. At 2 percent, the default rate remained under the sector average of 3.6 percent. Meanwhile, stronger commercial activity along with the normalization of ECB rates expanded the interest margin by 51.3 percent year over year to 1,064 million euros, according to the Cajamar Group’s 2023 annual review.
The group also recorded a notable rise in its gross profit margin, up 24.4 percent compared with 2015 figures, while operating expenses delivered an 8.3 percent efficiency gain, pushing overall efficiency to 49 percent and lifting the operating profit margin to 679 million euros, a 45.3 percent increase from 2022, as noted in the Cajamar Group’s 2023 annual review.
Business activity
As a leading member of the Cajamar Group, the enterprise dynamic in 2023 propelled growth in both retail operations and off-balance-sheet managed resources, which expanded by 10.8 percent and 27.8 percent respectively. Retail managed resources grew strongly thanks to a 119.6 percent surge in time deposits and mutual funds, with deposits capturing a larger market share of 2.7 percent across the country. The strategy focused on strengthening customer relationships and broadening product offerings to support sustainable funding growth, as described in the Cajamar Group’s 2023 annual review.
On the lending side, healthy credit investments rose by 1.2 percent to reach 36.982 billion euros. Financing to companies advanced by 5.6 percent from the prior year, while household financing accounted for 32.9 percent of total financing, with companies at 28.7 percent and the food sector at 17.4 percent. In 2023, Cajamar Group allocated 46.3 percent of new financing capital to the primary sector and industrial activities, underscoring a commitment to productive sectors and regional development, according to the Cajamar Group’s 2023 annual review.
Partners
Across 2023, member trust in the Cajamar cooperative banking model stood at 2.8 percent, with the member base reaching 1.7 million customers and nearly 3.8 million clients overall. Digital channels continued to expand, with electronic banking and mobile banking surpassing 1.1 million digital customers, a 5.8 percent year-over-year increase, including 652,000 Bizum users, up 12.8 percent from the previous year. The group also maintained a network of more than 1,000 sales points after opening three new offices in 2023 in Teruel, Huesca, and Tàrrega (Lleida). The figures reflect ongoing digital adoption and an expanded footprint as described in the Cajamar Group’s 2023 annual review.
Additionally, six mobile or travel offices delivered financial services across 43 small rural towns, with more than a third of rural offices located in towns with fewer than 5,000 inhabitants. This footprint supports a broader effort to prevent new financial exclusion in rural areas and to ensure access to essential banking services for underserved communities, as noted in the Cajamar Group’s 2023 annual review.