Caja de Ingenieros accelerates and expects to grow by 20,000 members this year

Caja de Ingenieros is a rare bird within the financial sector, as it is a credit cooperative, which means that the entity has no shareholders or is listed on the stock market, but rather is owned by its clients, whom it calls cooperative members. Currently, it has a base of 215,489 member-clients, a figure that the entity wants to significantly increase with the launch of the new strategic plan it expects to approve this summer, with the aim of gaining dimension and consolidating a banking model that the entity considers differential and a winner in the future.

"We want more members, we must grow more, it is a priority that we have set ourselves from the governing council," highlights Félix Masjuan, president of Grupo Caja de Ingenieros, who considers the current growth rate, close to 2%, insufficient. "The goal would be to grow between 4% and 5% annually," points out the general director of the Barcelona-based entity, Joan Cavallé, who is working on a new strategic plan until 2026. However, the veteran executive anticipates that for this year they have prepared various actions and campaigns aimed at attracting 20,000 new members, which would mean a jump of 9%, well above the 1.61% achieved in 2022, in which about 3,500 clients were gained.

If we look back, ten years ago, in 2013, Caja de Ingenieros had approximately 121,000 members, that is, about 94,000 fewer than today. The figure multiplied significantly during the years of the procés and, especially in the years 2017, 2018, and 2019 because the entity chose not to move its registered office from Catalonia. With the arrival of the pandemic, client acquisition slowed down and now wants to reactivate, taking advantage of the fact that the entity is very healthy and has made substantial investments in technology that allow this growth to accelerate. "We believe we have a very attractive model, based on offering members the highest quality of service," says Masjuan.

"For 55 years we have grown day by day, organically, member by member. We have created an entity where cooperative values are very present and where our main asset is the satisfaction of our members. We are very excited about the new strategic plan, which will allow us to continue progressing with financial solidity and always minimizing risks," adds the president. Caja de Ingenieros, which has 80% digitized clients, operates with a network of 33 physical offices (22 located in Catalonia) which, in the short term, it does not plan to increase; it recently opened a branch in Badalona.

Masjuan and Cavallé presented this Tuesday the economic results for the 2022 fiscal year, which they described as an "unusual, complex and peculiar" year, marked by uncertainty and red numbers in the financial markets, but favored in recent months thanks to "the sudden recovery" of interest rates and the return of remunerated time deposits. At the close of 2022, only 7.6% of Caja de Ingenieros' clients' money was placed in a remunerated fixed-term account, a percentage that Cavallé expects to increase to 40% this year thanks to the progressive increase he foresees in the remuneration of deposits. Now, the entity pays its clients with a payroll an interest rate of 1.75% on 12-month deposits. "Banking orthodoxy tells us that we should reach Euribor minus 0.75," he explains.

Caja de Ingenieros closed 2022 with a net profit of 11.67 million euros, which represents a decrease of 22.8% as a consequence of the fall in fixed income and variable income markets. According to Cavallé, it has been a "transition year" in which financial prudence, diversification of the business structure and cost containment have been prioritized, while maintaining investments of 9 million euros, most of which were destined for technology. The managed business volume grew by 6%, with 10,526 million, and credit investment rose by 3.7%, to 2,170 million. 66% of that portfolio are mortgages for private clients. The delinquency ratio, at 2.47%, is lower than in 2021. On the contrary, the efficiency ratio has worsened ten points, standing at 82%, that is, for every hundred euros earned, 82 euros are allocated to expenses.

The general director has highlighted the high capital ratio (15.77%) and "the extraordinary" structural liquidity (170%) of the group, and has stated that if United States banks applied the demanding European banking regulation, Silicon Valley Bank would not have failed. "We do not see any possible contagion effect to Europe; this liquidity crisis is impossible to happen here, it has surprised us. In Europe, the banking sector is terribly solid," he stated.

Cavallé considers that the financial forecasts for 2023 are "very positive" as a consequence of the normalization of interest rates, which will translate into an increase in income and margins. The objective is to raise the solvency ratio above 16% and the ROE (the profitability indicator) above 7.5%, compared to the 5% with which 2022 closed.