Close panel

Close panel

Close panel

Close panel

Economy

Economy

BBVA Chair Carlos Torres Vila has addressed shareholders ahead of the Annual General Meeting to be held on March 20 in Bilbao, where “the main milestones of 2025 and the progress in our strategy” will be reviewed. In the video message, he underscored that BBVA will propose a cash dividend of €0.92 per share—“the highest in our history”—in the context of record earnings and after “another excellent year for BBVA,” marked by the combination of growth and profitability.

In an interview on BBVA’s corporate website, the bank’s Chair, Carlos Torres Vila, took stock of 2025, which he described as “a magnificent year, with BBVA in its best moment,” and shared his outlook for 2026. The bank foresees continued growth in all countries and business areas, especially in sustainability and corporate banking, driven by a strategic plan that puts customers clearly at the center. BBVA also reaffirms its ambition to lead banking in the age of artificial intelligence. In this context, the Chair underlined that between 2025 and 2028, BBVA expects to “generate €49 billion in top-quality capital,” which will be used to finance organic growth and shareholder remuneration.

In 2025, BBVA successfully completed the global rollout of ADA, its new data and artificial intelligence platform. This technological foundation is key in enabling the bank to offer clients more agile, personalized, and efficient services. Over the course of the year, ADA also received recognition from numerous international organizations operating in the financial and technology sectors.

BBVA has successfully completed its €993 million share buyback program, launched on October 31, as part of its ordinary shareholder remuneration for the 2024 financial year. The deal is part of the bank’s strategic plan, which plans to have €36 billion to be returned to shareholders through dividends and share buybacks by 2028. Of this amount, some €13 billion will be distributed in the short term¹.

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.

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.

Spain’s National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) has approved BBVA’s new offer for Banco Sabadell shareholders. The take-up period for Banco Sabadell shareholders began on September 8, 2025 and will end October 10, 2025. Banco Sabadell shareholders who take up the offer will receive one new BBVA share for every 4.8376 shares they tender. The new offer represents a 10 percent¹ increase over the previous offer, and is exceptionally attractive for Banco Sabadell shareholders, as it implies the highest share valuation in over a decade. BBVA will cover the costs associated with the exchange for all shareholders who accept the offer through BBVA branches or via the telephone number +34 800 080 032.

BBVA Research ABN AMRO Bank and BNP Paribas Fortis' Prometis Lab have launched a new global research network based on financial transaction data. This non-profit platform seeks to generate real-time, high granularity economic information from anonymized data. Its goal is to monitor the economy in a timely and detailed manner and foster more informed and useful decision-making for society.

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.

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.”

The BBVA Group paid a record-breaking €8.46 billion in own taxes in 2024 in the countries where it operates, 10 percent more than the previous year, according to the Total Tax Contribution Report. In addition to this figure, BBVA collected €8.98 billion in taxes from third parties for a total of €17.44 billion–the Group’s highest tax contribution thus far. This means that for every €100 of income generated by BBVA in 2024, the bank contributed €49 to public coffers in taxes¹.

¹Ratio between BBVA’s financial contribution to public coffers in 2024 (€17.44 billion) and the bank’s gross margin for the year (€35.48 billion). BBVA’s tax contribution includes both its own taxes (corporate tax, VAT and specific levies on the financial sector, among others), as well as taxes collected by the BBVA Group on behalf of third parties, which are paid as a result of its presence and activity with employees, customers and suppliers in over 25 countries.

On Thursday, April 10, BBVA will pay a supplementary dividend of €0.41 per share. Added to the interim dividend paid in October, the total payout for 2024 rises to €0.70 per share, the bank’s highest since 2007. BBVA has also announced a €993 million share buyback.  Through dividends and the buyback, the bank will return a combined €5.03 billion to shareholders this year, half of its 2024 profit.

BBVA shareholders showed overwhelming support for all of the items proposed on the agenda at the 2025 Annual General Meeting, held this Friday. Quorum for the meeting reached 72.9 percent– an all-time high. The bank’s corporate management in 2024 received the support of 98.9 percent of the shareholders. Furthermore, the re-election as board members of BBVA Chair, Carlos Torres Vila, and CEO, Onur Genç, was backed by 97.4 percent and 99.1 percent of the votes, respectively.

On Friday, BBVA held its Annual General Meeting in Bilbao, where the Chair, Carlos Torres Vila, took stock of an excellent year. During his presentation, he underscored that BBVA, “with its strategic plan, aims to consolidate its business growth, multiply its contribution to society and create value for everyone.” In his opinion, it is crucial that Europe and Spain have banks with the right scale to take on the challenges posed by the new global landscape. In this context, BBVA is proposing the integration with Banco Sabadell as a “clear commitment to Spain and its companies.” Carlos Torres Vila stressed that with this transaction “both BBVA and Banco Sabadell shareholders will become the owners of a bank better prepared for the future.”