Lending rose 8.5%

• Gross operating income increased by 9.2%, due largely to good fee performance (up 16.2% and accounting for 44% of this income at the close of the year).
• Lending grew by 8.5%, at around 500 million euros, with that aimed at working capital growing sharply to account for 46% of the total.
• Good performance of the segment's two key business units: international and transactional banking. The former increased by 20.6% and the latter by 14.1%.