Spain's Banco Sabadell swung to a fourth-quarter net profit of 161 million euros ($182 million), lifted by British subsidiary TSB and lower provisions as it recovered from pandemic-related losses.
Analysts polled by Reuters had expected a net profit of 34 million euros in the three months to Dec. 31, compared with the 201 million euro loss posted by Spain's fourth-largest bank by assets in the same period of 2020.
Lower impairments for the whole year helped the bank to a 530 million euro net profit in 2021, far exceeding the 2 million euros booked in 2020 and 403 million euros expected by analysts.
This allowed the bank to close the year with a return on tangible equity (ROTE) of 5.05%, against 0.02% in 2020. It now expects ROTE of more than 6% in 2022, a year earlier than initially targeted in its strategic plan.