Garanti blazes a trail in the Turkish credit card market with the launch of Shop&Fly, a new product in the bank’s portfolio that makes life easier for its customers.

In 2018, there was declining activity in the bond business due to an increase in market volatility. In Europe, the total volume of issued bonds totalled €1.47 trillion, approximately 10% less than in 2017. Furthermore, 2018 witnessed the consolidation of trends like green bonds -  which have been on the market for more than ten years now - and the emergence of products related to new technologies.

Carlos Torres Vila presented BBVA’s 2018 earnings in his first press conference as chairman of the bank. He stressed that the “positive results” were sustained by recurring revenues, cost containment efforts and the strength of the Group’s diversified business model. During the presentation, he also addressed the news published in some media outlets regarding services provided by Grupo Cenyt. The chairman made appeals not to “prejudge” the alleged news and to let the BBVA investigation “do its job”, which will be conducted with “rigor, diligence, and thoroughness” in order to shed light on the facts. In addition, he made assurances that “BBVA has been, is, and will continue to be an honest bank”

Garanti Bank released its earnings for 2018. Based on its consolidated financials, Garanti’s assets were valued at slightly more than TL 399 billion, and its contribution to the economy through performing cash and non-cash loans totaled just over TL 311 billion. The bank achieved an ROAE (Return on Average Equity) of 15.0 percent and a ROAA (Return on Average Assets) of 1.7 percent.

BBVA Compass Bancshares, Inc., a Sunbelt-based bank holding company (BBVA Compass), reported today net income of $196 million for the fourth quarter of 2018, a 276 percent increase from the $52 million earned during the fourth quarter of 2017. Included in fourth quarter 2017 results is income tax expense of approximately $121 million related to the revaluation of net deferred tax assets at the lower statutory tax rate mandated by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (non-cash charge). Excluding the impact of this item, the year-over-year increase in net income for the fourth quarter of 2018 compared to adjusted net income* of $173 million for the fourth quarter of 2017 was 13 percent.

These are the ratios that show up the financial position of the bank. This is a disclosure of BBVA’s ratios calculated as of December 2018.

In 2018, the BBVA Group earned €5.32 billion, 51.3 percent more than in the previous year. Recurring revenues, cost containment efforts, and capital gains on the sale of BBVA Chile drove these results. BBVA’s diversified model and the transformation strategy are behind this positive evolution and of the improvements in efficiency.

What are the main highlights of BBVA's earnings for 2018? First of all, BBVA set a goal of having more than half of its customers bank through digital channels in 2018. And it met this goal. As of the end of December, 51 percent of the bank’s customers do their banking on digital channels, such as smartphones, tablets or on the bank website.

• Transformation: More than half of BBVA customers are digital, meeting the target set for 2018
• Income: Operating income grew 6.2 percent at constant exchange rates, thanks to the increase in recurring revenues and cost discipline
• Risks: BBVA showed strength in risk indicators, with an NPL ratio declining to 3.9 percent, and a coverage ratio of 73 percent
• Solvency: At the end of December, the fully-loaded CET1 ratio stood at 11.3 percent
• Shareholder value creation: The tangible book value per share plus dividends grew 10.1 percent in 2018, while the ROE increased to 11.6 percent
• Dividend: A cash payment in a gross amount of €0.16 per share, to be paid in April as final dividend for 2018, is expected to be proposed for the consideration of the competent governing bodies