BBVA Research is forecasting GDP growth of 2.6 percent for Catalonia in 2024, outpacing the average for Spain (2.5 percent). It also reckons that GDP will grow by 2.1 percent in 2025, supported by a wider economic improvement across Europe, albeit shackled by tourism, which is nearing maximum capacity in peak season. If these forecasts are met, in 2025 the GDP of the Catalan economy would be 7 points above the 2019 level. This growth comes on the back of a strong services sector, coupled with a recent improvement in industry, which are managing to offset weak exports of goods. For the third year running, Catalonia has outperformed Spain when it comes to GDP growth, as reflected in the creation of new jobs, with more sizable increases seen in Barcelona and Girona. In addition, the unemployment rate might well fall to 8.3 percent in 2025 and 192,000 new jobs could be created by the end of 2025. According to these forecasts, Catalonia is expected to create the most new jobs over this year and the next.

BBVA has completed the sale of a portfolio of unsecured non-performing loans valued at approximately €270 million. This transaction is expected to positively impact the bank's non-performing loan (NPL) ratio in Spain, which was 4.11 percent at the close of the first quarter of 2024.

The Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez; the President of Türkiye, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan; and Carlos Torres Vila, Chair of BBVA and Co-Chairman of the Spanish-Turkish Business Council, opened the Spain -Türkiye Business Meeting, which was held on Thursday at Ciudad BBVA in Madrid.

BBVA has convened an Extraordinary Shareholders’ Meeting on July 5th¹ at the Euskalduna Conference Center in Bilbao. The bank is proposing to its shareholders the capital increase needed to proceed with the share exchange with Banco Sabadell. This capital increase will consist of issuing new BBVA shares that will be given to Banco Sabadell shareholders who take up the offer. BBVA shareholders are not required to make any disbursements.

BBVA’s Board of Directors is presenting an offer to Banco Sabadell shareholders so they can benefit from an exceptionally favorable proposal. The deal offers one BBVA share for every 4.83 of Sabadell, representing a 30 percent premium over the closing price of both banks on April 29th, and a 50 percent premium over the weighted average prices of the past three months. The transaction has very positive financial impacts thanks to relevant synergies and the complementarity and excellence of both banks. The operation will create one of the best banks in Europe, with a loan market share close to 22 percent in Spain. Furthermore, BBVA will maintain its current shareholders distribution policy and its commitment to distribute any excess capital above 12 percent.

BBVA Chair Carlos Torres Vila gave the opening presentation at the BBVA Mexico's annual National Meeting of Regional Advisors 2024, the Group's flagship summit in Mexico. Addressing more than 400 business leaders, he reasserted BBVA's commitment to Mexico by announcing that the bank's investments in the country will reach 81.4 billion pesos, or around €4.45 billion, well above the amount originally foreseen in the 2019-2024 plan.

In a letter addressed to the Board of Directors of Banco Sabadell, BBVA states that merging the two entities would create the most compelling industrial project in European banking. In this sense, it highlights the benefits of the merger for both entities, their shareholders, employees, clients and the communities in which they operate.

At the presentation of first-quarter results, CEO Onur Genç said that BBVA expects improved profit both this year and next year compared to the same period of 2023. Specifically, "Our outlook for net attributable profit this year improves to double-digit growth. I see an even better 2025 versus 2024," he said. Genç also anticipates higher recurring revenue in the BBVA Group account in 2024, thanks to an improvement in the forecast for net interest income in Spain.

Jorge Bledel is the new country manager of BBVA in Argentina, replacing Martín Zarich. Additionally, Jorge Matuk will be the new head of Forum Chile, replacing Ignacio Sanz y Arcelus. These appointments are subject to the corresponding authorizations from local regulators.

On Tuesday, BBVA completed its latest share buyback in the amount of €781 million. Including all the buyback programs carried out between November 2021 to date, the bank has repurchased the equivalent of 14 percent of the total, for a total amount of €5.36 billion. BBVA launched these buybacks as part of its commitment to create value for its shareholders.

BBVA shareholders will receive a gross cash dividend of 39 euro cents per share this Wednesday, 26 percent more than in April of last year. This dividend comes on top of the 16 cents per share paid in October as an interim dividend charged to 2023 earnings and the €781 million share buyback initiated on March 4, 2024.

The contingent convertible capital instruments (CoCos) also known as Additional Tier 1 bonds are  hybrid bonds that combines debt and equity elements. Its defining characteristic is that it may be converted into shares if the CET1 capital ratio drops below a specific level.

BBVA contributed a record €7,668 million in own taxes in 2023 across all the countries in which it operates.  A further €5,950 million was also collected from third parties, making a grand total of €13,618 million in taxes, the highest tax contribution ever recorded by the bank. In Spain alone, BBVA paid a total of €1,191 million in its own taxes. With third-party taxes included, the bank contributed €3,384 million to the public treasury. This effort reflects BBVA's commitment to the social and economic well-being of the countries within its footprint and its strong support for local economies.

BBVA has received the new Single Resolution Board’s MREL regulatory requirement, which establishes the buffer the bank must maintain to absorb losses. Starting today, the bank’s own funds and eligible liabilities must represent 22.79 percent of the total of risk weighted assets of its European resolution group (which includes the holding, BBVA S. A. and its subsidiaries in Europe). BBVA already meets this requirement.

In the past two years, BBVA added 7,187 professionals in the data and technology field to its workforce - a figure it plans to increase in 2024 with 2,700 new hires. Of this amount, 1,225 will take place in Spain for the bank’s headquarters in Madrid, Bilbao and Barcelona. Technology talent has become a key aspect of the Group’s digital strategy.

BBVA shareholders largely backed the items on the agenda, which were subject to vote at the Annual General Meeting held on Friday. The bank’s corporate management received 98.2 percent of the votes. The AGM’s quorum stood at 71 percent, the highest in the bank’s history.

This Tuesday, BBVA placed US$2 billion in a senior debt issue structured in two tranches: a five-year senior 'preferred' bond and an 11-year senior 'non-preferred' bond. 1,000 million dollars have been placed in each tranche, thanks to a very high demand, which has reached 6,500 million dollars, thus tripling the final amount placed. The closing price in both sections has been very competitive. The senior preferred bond has closed at T+125 basis points (compared to an initial price of T+150 basis points), while that of the 'non-preferred' senior has been fixed at T+190 basis points, below the T+215 basis points of departure.

BBVA is to start on Monday, March 4th, a new share buyback program for €781 million, having received the necessary clearance from the European Central Bank. The buyback is part of shareholders’ regular distributions for 2023. In total, BBVA will distribute €4.01 billion (50 percent of the net attributable profit from last year) to its shareholders, including the dividend and this share buyback program.

BBVA’s Turkish unit has successfully issued a $500 million 10-year bond, with a coupon rate of 8.375 percent. The 10-year Tier 2 subordinated debt has a call option on the fifth year.

BBVA’s Board of Directors is to propose the appointment of two new members, Cristina de Parias, (as external board member) and Enrique Casanueva (as independent). They both have extensive experience and expertise in banking, having held top positions in financial institutions in key markets for BBVA. Furthermore, the female representation at the Group's Board will now increase from six to seven women, of a total of 15 members (47 percent), while the number of independent members will remain a majority, at 67 percent.

BBVA’s senior leadership predicted on Tuesday that the bank has the ability to enhance its results in 2024, after publishing record-breaking profit in 2023. BBVA Chair Carlos Torres Vila underscored that “2023 was an excellent year for BBVA and 2024 will be even better.” This growth, he explained, will allow BBVA to have a greater impact on its shareholders, customers, employees and society as a whole. “Our net attributable profit will continue to grow this year,” stated CEO Onur Genç during the presentation of the bank’s annual results in Madrid.

Garanti BBVA announced its 2023 earnings. The bank’s net income for the year stood at TL 86.91 billion, total assets reached TL 2.20 trillion and the loan portfolio of cash and non-cash loans was TL 1.61 trillion. Deposits remained the main source of funding, representing 73 percent of the bank’s total assets with TL 1.6 trillion. This represents an increase of 77 percent in 2023. Garanti BBVA’s capital adequacy ratio was 16.5 percent,* return on average equity (ROAE) was 44.5 percent and return on average assets (ROAA) was 4.9 percent.

BBVA, together with Bank of America Securities and Citigroup Capital Markets, led Ecopetrol’s new issuance of corporate debt in the U.S. market in the amount of $1.85 billion. This placement consolidates BBVA’s role as one of the top financial institutions in the structuring, placement and sale of corporate bonds.

BBVA Mexico manages a portfolio in excess of 50 billion pesos and now finances one out of every four automobiles in Mexico, making it the leader within the sector with a 25% market share.

Shareholders are the owners of the securities issued by an enterprise that has been organized as a corporation. BBVA has more than 750,000 retail shareholders. As individual savers, they are one of the bank's key stakeholders. BBVA is firmly committed to creating value for all of them.

BBVA´s CEO in Türkiye, Recep Baştuğ, spoke recently to national news outlet Anadolu Agency on the country’s economy, the banking industry, his own bank’s performance in 2023 and what he expects for next year.

This is the first agribusiness deal where one of the signatories refers its own suppliers to the bank as candidate borrowers.

BBVA has completed the sale of a portfolio of secured non-performing loans (NPLs). The portfolio has a gross value of approximately €330 million. This is BBVA's second such sale in 2023.

Davos will be held in Switzerland from January 15th - 19th with the theme ‘Rebuilding trust’. The event organized by the World Economic Forum will bring together over 100 governments, major international organizations and around 1,000 companies, as well as civil society leaders, renowned experts, young agents of change, social entrepreneurs and the media. Davos 2024 is an opportunity to reflect on the key challenges facing the world, marked by the geopolitical tensions of recent years, but also by the trends that will define the future, such as the decarbonization of the economy and artificial intelligence.

BBVA has updated the Group's Tax Strategy, last published in 2015. The bank thereby addresses rising interest among analysts, investors and wider society in corporate decisions with an impact on environmental, social and good governance issues. The new strategy strengthens the governance, oversight and control structure by creating a specific tax compliance body and integrating ESG criteria in tax decision-making.

BBVA is the Spanish company with the largest number of employees with the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) accreditation granted by the CFA Institute, the global association of investment professionals. More than 170 of the Group's employees in Europe, Mexico and other geographies hold this U.S. based accreditation. In addition, more than 50 BBVA professionals hold the Certificate in ESG Investing accreditation, also from the CFA Institute, which focuses on sustainable investment.