Bankia, the group of banks led by Caja Madrid, has managed to turn the results of its U.S. subsidiary, City National Bank of Florida, having implemented a strong reorganization of its balance sheet. This franchise provided the first results since Rodrigo Rato was appointed President of Caja Madrid, a little over a year.
In the first quarter of 2011 the U.S. bank earned of 9.24 million dollars (6.7 million euros). This is a much higher figure than internal estimates, which put the break even (positive results) later this year. This situation reflects, in addition to cleaning of assets, a recovery in the economy of Florida, one of the states most affected during the crisis following the bursting of the housing bubble.
In mid-2010, CajaMadrid had to inject $ 100 million (76 million euros) to deal with mortgage losses. City of Florida was one of the controversial purchases of the former president, Miguel Blesa, who, in the middle financial debacle in April 2008, paid (a high price for this bank) 750 million euros.
