Size and profitability in co-operative banking: a picture from inside a Portuguese institution

Abstract

The European co-operative banks play an important role in promoting savings and in financing small and medium enterprises. Their distinctive characteristics have allowed them to get through the Subprime crisis with remarkable resilience. Nevertheless, co-operative banks operate in a very competitive market, where they are constantly under pressure to improve their position. Increasing the size of local co-operative banks is often the strategy used to deal with this pressure. Based on data from a Portuguese co-operative banking group for 2009-11, we assess the impact of size on assets profitability, and conduct a disaggregated analysis of the ratios affecting it. Results indicate that size has an insignificant effect on profitability after controlling for the time-invariant characteristics of each local bank (i.e. caixa). This suggests that the initial higher profitability identified in small and larger caixas vis-à-vis that of medium-size caixas was explained by their specific time-invariant features. However our evidence suggests that size has an indirect effect on return through credit risk: larger caixas have better credit risk management.