BBVA suffers fall in profits
BANCO Bilbao Vizcaya Agentaria (BBVA), Spain’s second-biggest bank, reported a 17.4 per cent drop in third quarter net profit yesterday as provisions for bad loans weighed on results.
It said net profits in the three months to 30 September hit €1.14bn (£996m) compared to €1.38bn at the same time last year.
During the first nine months of the year BBVA posted a net profit of €3.67bn, a 12.2-per cent fall on the previous earnings for the period a year earlier.
BBVA’s president Angel Cano Fernandez admitted there were “uncertainties” to overcome in terms of the stability of the economic recovery but insisted BBVA’S business model would enable it to survive in the current environment.
The bank set aside provisions for potential loans going bad during the third quarter of €233m, although this was less than the €260m it set aside in the previous quarter.
Bad loans as a proportion of total lending continued to fall slightly to 4.1 per cent in the third quarter from 4.2 per cent in the previous quarter and 4.3 per cent during the first three months of the year.
The bank’s profit from Spain and Portugal fell to €501m in the quarter from €586m 12 months ago. BBVA shares fell 4.2 per cent to €9.39.