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 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.

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, 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.

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.

The more a company grows and increases its profitability, the greater its positive impact on the economy and people. During the presentation of the 2024 results, BBVA Chair Carlos Torres Vila explained how the bank will allocate its revenue and profit, with a greater social impact.

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.

BBVA was recognized for the second time as the best bank in Spain by The Banker, part of the U.K.-based Financial Times publishing group. Having also won the award in 2022, the bank has now earned the accolade in 2024 for its focus on innovation, digitization and sustainability. BBVA Spain Country Manager Peio Belausteguigoitia described the award as “a reflection of the hard work and dedication of the entire BBVA team” and emphasized the bank’s commitment to integrating advanced technologies to improve customer service. In addition, BBVA received the global award for financial inclusion for its work through the BBVA Microfinance Foundation. The bank was also recognized as the best in Peru and Venezuela.

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.

Mahmut Akten, currently the Head of Corporate, Investment Banking and Global Markets at Garanti BBVA, will become CEO of the bank and Country Manager of BBVA in Turkey, replacing Recep Baştuğ, who is stepping down following an extensive career of more than three decades with the organization. The appointment will be effective following the completion of the regulatory approvals.

In order to take the service and customer experience to the next level, BBVA creates two specialized global areas for each customer segment: Commercial Client Solutions, which will be led by Jaime Sáenz de Tejada; and Retail Client Solutions, with David Puente at the helm. Additionally, the bank is creating a global unit at the highest level of the organization, Digital Banks, which will be headed by Murat Kalkan. All of these units will report directly to Onur Genç, CEO of BBVA. The bank also announces other changes at the first executive level of the Group.

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.