Economy and Finance

BBVA’s Chief Executive Officer, Onur Genç, took part this Thursday in the Global Banking Summit hosted by the Financial Times in London. During his address, he remarked that the bank remains firmly focused on delivering its 2025–2029 Strategic Plan, which is built around profitable, organic growth. Along these lines, he pointed to BBVA’s expansion in Europe through its digital banking model in markets such as Italy and Germany. He also noted that the bank is firmly committed to “growing organically in the markets where we already operate.”

The Banker, a magazine of the Financial Times Group, has once again recognized the BBVA Group as ‘The Best Bank in Latin America.’ On this occasion, the British publication, which presented the bank with the same award in 2023, emphasized its leadership in innovation and pioneering approach to sustainability. BBVA also received the award for the Best Bank in Argentina and Peru.

In the image: Pablo Barriuso and Anselmo Andrade, from BBVA UK, receive the award for Best Bank in Latin America.

BBVA celebrated the fourth anniversary of its digital retail bank in Italy, which currently has over 800,000 customers and expects to reach one million in 2026. Since last November, BBVA Italy has increased its customer base by 35 percent, and has multiplied the financing granted to customers eightfold, including 1,800 mortgages. The success of the BBVA Italy model is driving the Group’s organic growth strategy across the rest of Europe, as CEO Onur Genç explained at a meeting with the media at the bank’s new offices in Milan. “Our priority is to consolidate our progress and ensure sustainable long-term growth: expanding our presence in key financial products, such as investments, and continuing to attract customers from traditional banks seeking a more modern experience”, Genç said.

BBVA in Italy reaffirms its commitment to meeting the real needs of its customers with two initiatives designed to make one of the year’s busiest spending periods even more rewarding: Great Cashback, which gives back up to €50 on purchases, and the current account offering 3% gross interest, allowing customers to grow their savings without giving up flexibility. A double benefit that enables people to spend smartly and grow their liquidity as Black Friday and the holiday season approach.

BBVA Research reinforces its commitment to innovation applied to economic analysis with the addition of a new section on Big Data and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to its website.

On Friday, November 7, BBVA shareholders will receive a gross interim cash dividend of €0.32 per share against 2025 earnings, 10 percent higher than the previous year. This is the highest interim dividend in BBVA’s history. In total, the bank will distribute €1.84 billion in cash to its shareholders.

BBVA placed €1 billion in a contingent convertible bond (known as CoCo or AT1) in euros this Monday, with demand reaching more than €5.250 billion. The issue price was set at 5.625 percent, significantly lower than the initial price guidance of 6.125 percent.

This Friday, October 31, BBVA is starting the €993 million share buyback program announced earlier this year, which had been pending execution. This buyback is part of the bank’s ordinary shareholder distribution for the 2024 financial year and contributes to the €13 billion BBVA plans to return to shareholders in the short term (€36 billion between 2025 and 2028) in dividends and share buybacks¹.

BBVA posted an excellent set of earnings in the first nine months of 2025, driven by  solid activity growth (+16 percent in constant euros) and momentum in core revenues (+13.5 percent in constant euros). Net attributable profit reached a record €7.98 billion through September, up 4.7 percent from a year earlier (+19.8 percent in constant euros). The Group continued to show outstanding profitability metrics, with ROTE at nearly 20 percent; while creating value for its shareholders, with an increase of the tangible book value per share plus dividends of 17 percent over the past 12 months. The strength of the CET1 capital ratio, which stands at 13.42 percent, has prompted to accelerate the remuneration plans for BBVA shareholders: on Oct. 31, the bank will start executing the pending share buyback for €993 million; on Nov. 7, it will pay the highest interim dividend ever (€0.32 per share), for a total of €1.84 billion; and, as soon as it receives the authorization from the European Central Bank (ECB), it will launch a significant additional share buyback program¹.

Franco Cinquegrana is BBVA's new country manager in Uruguay, replacing Alberto Charro, who is leaving the BBVA Group after a successful career spanning more than 35 years. This change is subject to obtaining the relevant regulatory approvals.

BBVA’s Turkish unit has completed a new $700 million Basel III‑compliant Tier 2 issue, taking its subordinated bond sales over the past two years to $2.45 billion, the largest recent total among banks. Strong demand and competitive pricing underscored international investor confidence.

The three leading rating agencies have upgraded BBVA’s rating over the past three weeks. On Tuesday, Fitch upgraded the long-term senior preferred debt one notch, from A- to A. It also upgraded BBVA’s long-term issuer rating, from BBB+ to A-, with a stable outlook, among other improvements. This latest move joins the recent upgrades by S&P and Moody’s.

The rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has upgraded BBVA’s  rating by one notch, from A to A+, matching Spain’s sovereign rating, with a stable outlook. “BBVA continues to deliver solid risk-adjusted returns and it is our view that BBVA’s  financial strength is now  in line with that of larger and more diversified European and global  peers,” S&P noted.

As part of the strategic plan unveiled earlier this year and following the release of second-quarter earnings, BBVA announced its financial goals for 2025-2028 for the Group and key business areas. All units are poised for sustainable growth while generating capital and maintaining rigorous cost and risk control, which will translate into improved profitability across business units.

Grupo Energía Bogotá (GEB) has just secured a long-term credit facility from BBVA Colombia worth 500 billion pesos, as it aims to ramp up its investment plan and modernize the country’s existing energy infrastructure.

BBVA Corporate & Investment Banking (CIB) posted record revenues of €3.194 billion in the first half of 2025, representing a 28% increase compared to the same period of 2024 (in constant euros, excluding the impact of hyperinflation accounting adjustments). All business units delivered double-digit growth: Global Markets (GM) rose 31% year-on-year; Global Transaction Banking (GTB) 17%; and Investment Banking & Finance (IB&F) 32%. BBVA CIB’s loan book expanded by 10% versus December 2024, driven by both transactional banking and IB&F, supported by landmark operations in project finance and corporate lending across Spain, Mexico, and the U.S. Attributable profit reached €1.553 billion, up 34% year-on-year. Profitability improved across key geographies, particularly in Spain, Continental Europe, and the U.S.

BBVA’s Turkish unit reported net income of TL 53.6 billion for the first half of 2025, according to consolidated financial statements as of June 30. Total assets grew to TL 3.82 trillion, while the bank provided TL 2.95 trillion to the economy through cash and non-cash loans. Customer deposits remained the primary source of funding, accounting for 69.5 percent of total assets. The deposit base expanded 26.7 percent in the first six months to TL 2.66 trillion. The bank maintained a robust capital adequacy ratio of 15.6 percent.* Return on average equity (ROAE) stood at 30.7 percent, while return on average assets (ROAA) was 3.1 percent.

*Calculated without the forbearance introduced by BRSA

BBVA posted a record €5.45 billion profit, up 9 percent yoy (+31 percent in constant euros) in the first half of 2025, driven by greater activity in Spain and Mexico. The bank reported excellent metrics in profitability -with ROTE above 20 percent-, and value creation for shareholders, with growth of the tangible book value per share plus dividends of nearly 15 percent. BBVA also improved its profitability and efficiency prospects at Group level, as well as lending and net interest income for Spain, among others. The bank also unveiled its financial goals for the 2025-2028 period. It expects to earn an accumulated net attributable profit of around €48 billion over four years, while having €36 billion of highest-quality capital available for distribution to shareholders through 2028¹.  Furthermore, BBVA expects average ROTE to reach around 22 percent during this period, with the efficiency ratio improving to levels around 35 percent.  The bank also set a goal to increase the tangible book value per share plus dividends by around 15 percent (CAGR).

¹ Subject to the approval of the corresponding governing bodies and the required regulatory authorizations.

The BBVA Group scooped 13 awards at the Euromoney Awards for Excellence ceremony held last night in London, attended by over 350 representatives from the international financial community. BBVA’s franchises in Mexico, Peru, Spain and Türkiye all received awards under various categories.

BBVA has been recognized as the World’s Best Corporate Bank for 2025 by Global Finance for the third year running, cementing its status as a global leader in the financial industry. This award is a testament to BBVA’s continued excellence and innovation in corporate banking, one of its strategic priorities.

Following the assessment of the condition imposed by the Spanish Council of Ministers on June 24, 2025, BBVA is to move forward with the acquisition of Banco Sabadell as “the project creates significant value for the shareholders of both entities and represents a unique opportunity to build one the most competitive and innovative banks in Europe. Together we will be a stronger institution, with greater scale and the capacity to increase lending to households and business by €5 billion annually, thereby supporting the economic growth of our country,” BBVA Chair Carlos Torres Vila said.

BBVA’s Turkish franchise has successfully completed the issuance of a $500 million Tier 2 bond in the international markets. This marks the bank’s first such transaction in 2025, following a $750 million Tier 2 issue in November 2024.

Garanti BBVA has been recognized as the “Best Cash Management Bank” in Türkiye by Global Finance magazine for the second year in a row. The publication, which has been evaluating financial institutions globally for 37 years, honored the bank for its continued excellence in the cash management field.

The BBVA Chair recalled this Wednesday that the BBVA Sabadell transaction has received over 27 approvals, including from the CNMC, following a process that has been “more rigorous and longer than ever before.” In an interview with Carlos Alsina on Onda Cero’s ‘Más de uno’ show, Carlos Torres Vila underscored that the integration with Banco Sabadell is a transaction between two private actors. “The truth is that what really serves the public interest is for Banco Sabadell shareholders to be able to decide whether to accept the offer,” he said. “We are confident that they will decide to join this great project.”

With the slogan ‘Go Further’ as the central theme, nearly 1,600 BBVA professionals gathered in Madrid to explore the Group’s new 2025–2029 strategic plan. Officially presented in February, the teams responsible for the plan’s design and execution are now working through the details. At the opening of the event, BBVA Chair Carlos Torres Vila and CEO Onur Genç reflected on the achievements of the previous plan (2021-2024): profitable growth, over 14 million new target customers, and the early fulfillment of the sustainable business commitment, channeling €300 billion of sustainable finance one year ahead of schedule. They also conveyed their vision of the future: a competitive scenario, full of opportunity.

The Bank of Spain has informed BBVA of its new minimum requirement for own funds and eligible liabilities (MREL), the regulatory framework that requires banks to have sufficient funds to absorb losses in case of crisis.  Starting June 12, 2025, BBVA must maintain a buffer of 23.13 percent of the total risk-weighted assets (including the parent company, BBVA S.A and its subsidiaries in Europe). With an MREL ratio of 33.20 percent at the end of March 2025, the bank already far exceeds this threshold, and also meets the additional requirements for subordination and capital buffers.

BBVA Chair Carlos Torres Vila announced a record-breaking investment plan at the opening of the National Meeting of Regional Advisors (RNCR) of BBVA Mexico, the financial institution’s most important meeting in the country.  In front of more than 500 members of the business community, the Chair reported that BBVA is now making an even more ambitious announcement: “more than 100 billion pesos by 2030”, approximately €4.57 billion. “It is not only an investment. It’s trust. It’s a long-term vision. It’s a commitment to the more than 30 million customers we serve in the country,” he said.