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Finance

Finance

BBVA Compass Bancshares, Inc., a Sunbelt-based bank holding company (BBVA Compass), reported today record net income of $157 million for the second quarter of 2017, a 29 percent increase from the $123 million earned during the second quarter of 2016 and a 30 percent increase from the $121 million earned during the first quarter of 2017. Return on average assets and return on average tangible equity(1) for the second quarter of 2017 were 0.72 percent and 7.93 percent, respectively.

BBVA presented today its financial statements for the April-June 2017 period. BBVA CEO Carlos Torres Vila said that “the second quarter results confirm the positive trends recorded earlier this year, both in terms of financial results and of transformation and value creation for shareholders.”

How did the bank do during these three months? And what about during the first half of the year? These are the keys to understanding the results:

  • Income: Net interest income reached a seven-quarter high in Q2. In the year to June, this item, plus fees and commissions, grew 5.1% y-o-y. This, combined with cost-containment efforts, helped keep the efficiency ratio at levels below 50%
  • Risks: The Group’s NPL ratio stood at 4.8% at the end of the quarter, compared to 4.9% in December; coverage stood at 71%
  • Capital: BBVA remained in line with its fully-loaded CET1 target (11%). It added 20 basis points in the first two quarters and increased the ratio to 11.10%. This ratio includes the negative impact related to the March purchase of an additional 9.95% stake in Turkey’s Garanti
  • Transformation: As of the end of June, BBVA’s digital customer base came to 19.9 million (+22% y-o-y). Of these, 14.5 million were mobile customers (+42% y-o-y). BBVA’s mobile banking app in Spain is the best in the world, according to Forrester Research

The USS Constitution is back to her former glory. After a restoration process that took two years and $12 million worth of copper cladding, wooden plank repair and gun carrier restoration, among other refurbishments, the oldest commissioned floating naval vessel first launched in 1797 was put back into Boston Harbor this week.

For every 100 euros European citizens earn, they pay an average of 50 euros in taxes and contributions.  Of the amount they pay in taxes, only 1 euro is devoted to financing the budget of the European Union.  Thus, in total, Europe manages a budget equivalent to 1% of the gross national income of its Member States.  However, the way this money is invested has a direct impact on the lives of Europeans.

The current climate of change inside and outside Europe has led the European Commission to reflect on the future of its public accounts.  In the document entitled  'The Future of EU finances', the Commission analyzes the current configuration of the budget and its future options. This document is part of a series of reflections brought about by the White Paper on the future of Europe, which set forth the different challenges and scenarios the EU will be facing through 2025.

Latin America has to foster the right conditions to strengthen its digital ecosystem. However, it faces an obstacle: the digital gap that separates it from other regions in the world. How can this gap be reduced? At a forum of “multi-Latina” companies in Santander, Eva Piera, the Head of Institutional Relations at BBVA stressed that regulation is the key.