Banco Sabadell rules out purchases outside Spain with the future of the CEO of its British subsidiary in the air

Banco Sabadell begins to chart its future alone after the failed BBVA takeover bid. After presenting a new record quarterly result, the Catalan entity looks now to 2026 focused on the execution of its strategic plan. After a year and a half of wear and tear due to the failed hostile process, the bank envisions a roadmap without acquisitions, neither inside nor outside of Spain. “There is no appetite to enter other markets,” said CEO César González-Bueno.

Among the group’s pending issues for the coming months is the closing of the sale of TSB, its British subsidiary, to Banco Santander for 3,400 million euros. This figure includes all the benefits expected until March 2026, when said transfer is expected to materialize. As part of this agreement, it will shower shareholders with an extraordinary dividend of 2,500 million, equivalent to 0.5 euros per share. If everything goes as planned, this operation will take the franchise to the “next level,” will convert to the bank of Cantabrian origin in the third banking group in the country with the doubt as to whether Marc Armengol, current CEO of TSB, will remain on the Sabadell staff.

“Armengol is a first-class professional and will remain in the position until the operation is completed. Afterwards it will be he who decides, together with Santander and us, what his future is. Here is the open door“, commented González-Bueno during the presentation of the quarterly results. Armengol took the reins of the business just twelve months ago, in November 2024. It so happens that Santander is looking for a new person in charge in this market due to the resignation of Mike Regnier with effect from the next financial year. The risk director, Mahesh Aditya, appears as the favorite in the pools.

The entity chaired by Josep Oliu looks to the next year focused on the national level. His scope of action will be limited to Spain and, to a lesser extent in Mexico, whose contribution to the income statement barely reaches 4%, a lower percentage than that of TSB, which until now has contributed to the accounts for the first nine months with 242 million, almost 18% of the 1,390 million that it has accounted for at the group level.

In this context, the bank’s chief executive has recognized that the bank’s purpose is to “marginally gain” market share, that “could be higher” and they have an internal project for this. The “distraction” of the takeover bid has caused a slowdown in the rate of customer acquisition, by remaining 25% below the stipulated objective. “We hope the effect disappears,” he commented. According to data collected by the consulting firm Inmark, Sabadell has lost four percentage points of penetration throughout 2025 with 10.6%, while as the main bank it has fallen one tenth and is placed in sixth position within the banking map with 5.8%.

The market expects a profit for the whole of 2025 around 1,700 million, which would remain slightly below the 1,800 million obtained an exercise back in a context of normalization of interest rates. The evolution of this indicator will be key when determining an improvement in shareholder remuneration, set at 6,450 million until 2027 after the latest increases.

The entity suffered a collapse of more than 5% in the stock market in the yesterday after earnings have been slightly lower than those projected by analysts, as well as due to lower margins. The higher volumes fail to offset the depreciation of the portfolio. In fact, the income from the banking business, which includes interest margin plus net commissionshave experienced a 2% cut and are placed in 4,659 million, while the interest margin -the difference between what it charges for lending and what it pays for deposits- has also suffered a cut of 3.2%, to 3,628 million. In contrast, commissions exceed 1,000 million (+2.3%).