Recurring revenues (net interest income and net fees and commissions) continue growing robustly, reaching a record high in 2019. According to BBVA Group executive chairman Carlos Torres Vila, the bank obtained outstanding results despite a macroeconomic environment that was more complex than expected. “Looking toward the future, at BBVA, our goal will be to dig deeper into our strategy, integrating the interests of customers, employees, shareholders and society as a whole, balancing economic, social and environmental perspectives in everything we do,” he indicated.

BBVA Group earned €4.83 billion excluding one-time items in 2019 (+2.7 percent from the previous year), the highest figure since 2009. The results were driven by an increase in recurring revenue and the containment in operating expenses. Including the impact of the goodwill adjustment at its U.S. franchise in 4Q19 and the capital gains from the sale of BBVA Chile in 2018, the net attributable profit declined 35 percent yoy, to €3.51 billion. The bank is to propose for the consideration of the competent governing bodies a gross cash dividend of €0.16 per share to be paid in April 2020, maintaining the same amount as the previous year.

Carlos Torres Vila, Group Executive Chairman:

ROTE or “Return on Tangible Equity” is a ratio that helps measure a company's profitability.

ROE stands for “Return on Equity” and is the most used measurement of a company's profitability. It is calculated by dividing the company’s net income by shareholder equity (or the company’s assets minus its debt).

Recurring income (or core earnings) is the most closely linked to the traditional banking business: net interest income and commissions.

A company’s shareholders — ultimately the company’s owners — expect the company to create value that they can eventually recognize. Can the generation of shareholder value be measured? Which metric is a better indicator: book value or tangible book value?

The net interest income is the difference in euro between financial income and financial costs; that is, the difference between an asset's profitability (the credit lines and loans that the institution has on its balance sheet, mainly) and the interest that the bank pays for the resources it needs to finance that asset (such as customer deposits and wholesale financing).

These are the expenses that an institution incurs in its business operations.