Market Cap of the Five Largest European Banks Dropped 40% in Three Months

The coronavirus outbreak has hit the banking system hard, wiping out the profit of even the largest financial institutions in the world. The effects of the coronavirus pandemic are being felt in the European banking system, as well, causing a substantial fall in revenue and market cap of the leading financial institutions.

According to data gathered by Finanso.se, the market capitalization of the five largest banks in Europe dropped more than 40% in three months, falling from $407.44bn in December 2019 to $240bn in March.

Europe’s largest bank HSBC Lost $47.4bn in Market Cap

Europe’s largest bank, HSBC, has seen the value of market capitalization fall by $47.4bn between December 31st 2019, and March 31st 2020, revealed the Statista survey. At the end of 2019, one of the largest banking and financial services institutions in the world had $161.51bn in market capitalization. Statistics show this amount plunged to $114.08bn by the end of the first quarter of 2020.

The coronavirus outbreak first hit Asia, where the London-based lender derives almost 90% of its earnings. The official earnings report showed that, due to the coronavirus outbreak, HSBC’s pre-tax profit dropped to $3.2 billion in the first quarter of 2020, almost 50% plunge compared to a year earlier.

The French financial giant, PNB Paribas lost more than 40% of its market capitalization value in the last three months. In December 2019, the market cap of the second-largest bank in Europe amounted to $74.03bn. In the next two months, it plunged to $60.32bn. The negative trend continued in March with the market cap falling to $42.62bn.

Market Cap of the ING Group Plunged 57%

The third-largest bank in Europe, Banco Santander SA lost 44% of its market cap by the end of the first quarter of 2020. Statistics show the Spanish bank had $66.97bn in market capitalization in December 2019. In the next three months, this value dropped to $37.55bn.

Also, the Q1 2020 earnings report revealed that the bank’s profits declined sharply in preparing for the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, falling to €331 million. The Spanish financial giant booked €1.6 bn in provisions to insure potential losses caused by the pandemic, as well as €46 million in restructuring costs. The lower revenue and the higher provisions caused an 82% plunge in net profit in the first quarter of 2020.

Statistics show that Lloyds Banking and ING Group, as the fourth and the fifth-largest European banks, both lost more than 50% in their market cap by the end of the March.

In December 2019, Lloyds Banking market capitalization hit $57.97bn value. However, in the next three months, it fell to $26.59bn, a 54% plunge compared to December’s figures.

The ING Group experienced the most significant drop in the total value of shares amid coronavirus outbreak. In December 2019, the market cap of the Dutch bank stood at $46.96bn. By the end of March, it plunged to $20.07bn.