The most relevant aspects of the income statement in the area are the year-on-year growth of revenue after a few quarters of decline, the increase in operating expenses and the rise in impairment losses on financial assets. Overall, the United States generated a net attributable profit in the quarter of €105m, 16.1% above the figure obtained in the same period in 2013 and 40.5% above that in the fourth quarter last of 2013.
The positive performance of gross income is due to the strength of economic activity; increased investment banking operations, with a favorable effect on income from fees and commissions; and the good performance of the Global Markets unit, whose gross income grew by 58.8% on the same period in 2013.
The year-on-year growth in operating expenses is strongly influenced by the acquisition of Simple and the implementation of strategic and technological projects in the area (these basically affect the general expenses heading). Despite this, the increase is lower than that of revenue, so as a result operating income in the United States grew year-on-year by 10.4%, after a number of consecutive quarters of decline.
Finally, the greater volume of activity has led to an increase in impairment losses on financial assets, though the risk premium in the area has remained stable and closed the quarter at 0.20%, the same level recorded in 2013.
