Economy
Economy
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 is to launch on December 22 an extraordinary share buyback program for a maximum amount of €3.96 billion, after obtaining all required authorizations. This is the largest buyback ever carried out by the Group. The program is part of the €36 billion that BBVA expects to make available for distribution to shareholders between 2025 and 2028¹, through both ordinary remuneration and additional distributions, such as this program.
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.
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.
Enterprises are one of the six major priorities in BBVA’s 2025 - 2029 strategic cycle. The bank supports all companies in every stage of their development, offering accessible solutions, tailored to their needs and reality, a global vision (presence in 25 countries) and expert advice. BBVA is much more than a financial provider: it is the strategic partner that boosts companies’ growth, combining knowledge, innovation and sustainability. From SMEs to large corporations and institutions, BBVA wants to be by their side, understand their challenges and help them overcome them with confidence.
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.
In June, the European Commission rolled out a long‑awaited package to simplify the EU securitization framework, revive the market and safeguard financial stability. The proposal marks the first legislative step under the Savings and Investment Union (SIU) strategy, which seeks to channel European savings into capital‑market investment, giving retail savers better returns and firms new sources of finance.
MiCA, the EU Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, has been fully in force for just over six months. This milestone also marks the first complete year for its stablecoin rules. The law’s passage was hard‑won, and its rollout has been steady but measured.
This past Wednesday, BBVA issued a 10-year senior non-preferred (SNP) green bond worth €1 billion and maturing in 2035. Demand for the bond peaked at €2.9 billion, reflecting strong investor appetite for green-labelled instruments. At the close of the issue, the price was set at mid-swap plus 108 basis points, significantly below the initial guidance of mid-swap plus 135 basis points, making it the lowest spread achieved on a 10-year SNP by a Southern European financial institution since 2021.
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.
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.
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 has appointed Carlos Sanz-Pastor as Global Head of Internal Audit, replacing Joaquín Gortari Díez, who is leaving the bank following a successful career of 35 years. Meanwhile, Carlos Sanz-Pastor has been part of Internal Audit for more than two decades and, since 2015, was responsible for this unit’s strategy.
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.”
On Friday, March 21st at 12:00 PM (CET), BBVA will hold its 2025 Annual General Meeting (AGM) at the Euskalduna Conference Center in Bilbao (Spain). BBVA is making it easier for its shareholders to participate in the AGM by offering a hybrid model, combining in-person attendance with the option of remote participation. To participate remotely, shareholders need to register in advance on the Remote Attendance Portal. Furthermore, the bank’s corporate website will broadcast the event via webcast.
Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (BBVA) filed on February 21, 2025 with the Securities and Exchange Commission BBVA´s Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2024.
BBVA has received the approval of the National Banking and Securities Commission (CNBV) to acquire indirect control of Banco Sabadell’s Mexican banking franchise. BBVA has now received all the necessary authorizations from Mexican regulators.
For yet another year, the bank stood out among comparable European peers for its unique combination of growth of its lending portfolio (14 percent yoy in constant euros), and profitability, with ROTE of 19.7 percent. In 2024 the Group added 11.4 million new customers and channeled €99 billion in sustainable business, reaching the €300-billion¹ goal one year ahead of schedule. Between January and December, BBVA posted a net attributable profit of €10.1 billion, up 25 percent. Earnings per share² saw a higher increase, 28 percent, on the back of a share buyback. Against 2024 earnings, BBVA will pay a cash dividend of €0.70 per share³, 27 percent more than in 2023, and will execute a new share buyback program for €993 million⁴. In total, BBVA will distribute €5.03 billion to its shareholders.
¹Accumulated since 2018.
²Earnings per Share (EPS) figures considering end of period number of shares.
³Of this amount, €0.29 per share were paid in October as interim dividend of 2024. The additional payout of €0.41 per share is subject to the approval by the bank’s governing bodies.
⁴Subject to approval from the bank’s governing bodies and from corresponding regulators.
BBVA has appointed Antonio Bravo as the Global Head of Data. He will replace Ricardo Martín Manjón, who’s leaving the bank to embark on new professional projects.
On Tuesday, BBVA issued a contingent convertible (CoCo or AT1) bond in the amount of $1 billion dollars, with an early redemption option in seven years. The operation kicks off the 2025 debt market, making BBVA the first EU bank to issue debt in this format this year. With this transaction, the bank is reinforcing its ability to diversify sources of funding.
The Mexican Federal Economic Competition Commission (Cofece) has granted approval for BBVA to indirectly acquire Banco Sabadell's shares in various subsidiaries in Mexico. Cofece's analysis determined that the transaction poses no risk to competition in the Mexican banking sector.
Garanti BBVA has successfully completed a new Basel III-compliant Tier 2 bond issuance, demonstrating the bank’s strong position in international markets. This marks its second Tier 2 bond this year. The bond was issued with a 10-year maturity, a five-year call option, and a total value of $750 million. Garanti BBVA also extended a tender offer to its investors for the $750 million nominal value of the Tier 2 bond it issued in 2017, with a 2027 maturity.
BBVA shareholders will receive on Oct. 10 a gross dividend, against 2024 earnings, of €0.29 per share, 81 percent higher than a year earlier. This is the highest interim dividend to be paid by BBVA to date. The bank will thus distribute about €1.7 billion in cash to shareholders. Following this dividend, from 2021 BBVA will have distributed about €15 billion in dividends and share buybacks.