Fifteen of Europe's 20 largest banks saw the value of their shares decline in the first quarter as Russia's invasion of Ukraine triggered a sell-off in the period, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data.
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Losers, gainers
Russian government-owned Sberbank of Russia suffered the steepest decline, losing more than half of its value in the three months to March 31. The sanctions-hit bank fell seven notches to ninth in the ranking.
France-based Société Générale SA and Italy's UniCredit SpA, which have exposure to Russia, saw double-digit declines in their market cap of 22.38% and 28.60%, respectively, to place 20th and 18th in the ranking. The market caps of Dutch bank ING Groep NV, U.K.-based Barclays PLC and Sweden-based Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (publ) fell 22.56%, 20.67% and 18.93%, respectively.
Only U.K.-based HSBC Holdings PLC, Swiss bank UBS Group AG, Spain-based Banco Santander SA and CaixaBank SA, and Germany's Deutsche Bank AG saw increases in their market cap. CaixaBank registered the highest increase in valuation, of 27.46%, and re-entered the list to place 16th.
Top 5
HSBC, the top bank in previous periods, saw its market cap increase to €124.15 billion, up 16.50% from 2021-end. BNP Paribas SA rose one notch to place second despite its market cap falling 14.55%, while UBS' rose 9.03%, pushing the bank up one notch to third place.
Santander climbed to fourth spot from fifth at 2021-end as its market cap grew by 4.94%. Rounding out the top five was Italy-based Intesa Sanpaolo SpA, which rose two notches despite a 8.32% fall in its market cap.
Absent from the list was Credit Suisse Group AG, which ranked 19th as of 2021-end. The Zurich-based bank, which is still reeling from costly scandals in 2021, is subject to a U.S. inquiry looking into the bank's compliance with sanctions against Russia.