Halbjahresbilanz: US-Konkurrenz enteilt Europas Großbanken

The first half of the year saw European banks maintain a wider profit gap compared to their U.S. counterparts despite better performance, according to a report by Ernst & Young (EY). While the ten largest European institutions collectively increased their profit by 21% compared to the previous year, U.S. competitors saw a 42% increase.

EY's analysis revealed that the ten largest European banks together earned around 58.7 billion euros in net profit based on total balance sheets. In contrast, the top 10 U.S. banks recorded nearly double that amount, reaching almost 110.6 billion euros. EY partner Ralf Eckert noted that all the analyzed banks enjoyed an exceptionally good half-year period, but acknowledged that the U.S. edge had widened and remained substantial.

EY partner Gunther Tillmann suggested that mergers may not be the answer to Europe's growing consolidation pressure, as European banks' profit structures are heavily focused on interest income and capitalization, which sets them apart. The top-performing bank in the analysis was JPMorgan Chase, a U.S. giant, which earned around 42 billion euros before taxes and 33 billion euros in profit after taxes in the first half.

Among European banks, HSBC led with nearly 17.1 billion euros before taxes and 13.4 billion euros after taxes. The Deutsche Bank, the only German institution among the top 20 reviewed banks, achieved a first-half profit of 5.7 billion euros before taxes and 3.6 billion euros after taxes for shareholders. Profitability for banks on both sides of the Atlantic has improved, with European banks increasing their equity return (Return on Equity/RoE) from 10.5% the previous year to 12.3%.

U.S. banks saw an even greater increase, from 11.3% to 15%. Equity return measures how efficiently banks use capital to generate profits.