BBVA - Press Room

• Chairman and CEO of BBVA, Francisco González, said that "BBVA must take advantage of the opportunities created by the current environment to win market share and boost growth in Catalonia, leveraging its unique customer-driven business model underpinned by cutting edge technology"
• BBVA is the number one bank in Catalonia with 1.2 million customers and a share of the banking market of 26.63% by loans and of 20.69% by deposits
• The Group's business volume in the region exceeds €56 billion, underpinned by a network of 491 branches and 3,280 employees

BBVA is the leader in Catalonia in institutional and corporate banking, including the large corporate account segment. The bank has 1.2 million customers in the region where it is also the number one bank in the medium-sized business segment and in retail banking. In conjunction with the board meeting held in Barcelona, the chairman and CEO of BBVA highlighted how the Group is outperforming its peers in the current environment thanks to its winning business model, predicated on its customer focus and retail banking franchise, underpinned by recurring income, geographic diversification, prudent risk management and cost control. The Group's business volume in the region exceeds €56 billion, supported by a network of 491 branches and 3,280 employees

During his trip to Barcelona, Francisco González participated in several forums arranged in conjunction with the BBVA board meeting. He was accompanied at these events by COO, Ángel Cano, and the managing director for Catalonia, Xavier Queralt. Mr. González held meetings with BBVA's management team and with representatives from regional institutions and businesses, while saving time to inaugurate the Frantisek Kupka retrospective organised by the Miró Foundation.

During his meeting with the regional executive team, BBVA's chairman and CEO noted that "BBVA must take advantage of the opportunities created by the current environment to win market share and boost growth, leveraging its unique customer-driven business model underpinned by cutting edge technology. In Catalonia we have compelling opportunities for boosting our corporate and retail customer bases, the latter particularly in the middle to high income bracket". He went on to add that "we are presented with huge growth opportunities which we must tap as we are positioned to lead the financial industry over the coming years".

BBVA's top executive expressed his belief that things were settling down, giving way to the beginning of a period of economic recovery. From a macroeconomic standpoint, he noted that "we have shaken off the sensation of being in free-fall, embarking on the path towards stabilisation and moderate growth, driven by public monetary and fiscal stimulus measures". He did warn, however, that the recovery will not be uniform, with emerging markets, particularly Asia and Latin America, on firmer footing, while the developed economies, with the US taking the lead, will take longer to return to growth.

Turning to the financial industry, he explained that "following the initial heavy fallout on the business, with volumes slumping and default rates rising, restrictions have eased thanks to the actions taken by the central banks to slash rates, inject liquidity and try other non-conventional measures".

Francisco González is adamant that "a new and totally different financial system is taking shape, depicting a completely novel competitive landscape, in which public or semi-public banks will co-exist side by side a reduced number of private banks, governed by more stringent regulations and tighter supervision".

Looking ahead, BBVA's chairman and CEO predicts that the "crisis will trigger an industrial transformation across the financial system, an authentic innovation-driven revolution, in which customers will interact with major platforms that seamlessly combine the physical and virtual worlds of banking". On this point, he noted that "here at BBVA we have been headed in this direction for some time which is why we are spearheading the industry paradigm shift".

Despite the tough economic backdrop, BBVA presented very good earnings for the first nine months of the year, underpinned by extremely strong recurring income (net interest income climbed almost 20%), robust capital (core capital at 8%, up 110bp since January), the lowest cost-income ratio in European banking (39.7%), extraordinary returns (ROE: 21.2%) and strong and developing franchises. "These results mirror the dedication of everyone at BBVA and reflect our strategy which is built on three pillars -  principles, people and innovation ' as well as our sustainable, diversified business model which is customer-driven and retail banking focused", recalled Francisco González.

Leading bank in Catalonia
BBVA is the leading financial institution in Catalonia in institutional and corporate banking, including the large corporate accounts segment and it is the number one bank in the medium-sized business segment and in retail banking. In Catalonia it has over 1.2 million customers, a network of 491 branches and 3,280 employees.

Group business volumes in Catalonia stand at €56.28 billion, of which 68% (€38.43 billion) is accounted for by the overall loan book, while the remainder is customer funds under management (€17.85 billion).

Looking specifically at commercial banking, business volumes stand at €33.80 billion, of which 58% (or €19.63 billion) corresponds to investments (consumer loans, cards, mortgages and business loans) and the remainder (€14.17 billion) to deposits (sight, term, mutual funds and pension funds). In corporate banking, BBVA's combined loans and deposits amount to €22.48 billion, with the former accounting for 83% (or €18.81 billion) of the total and the latter accounting for the remaining €3.67 billion.

Over the past year, despite the challenging economic backdrop, BBVA's lending activity has continued at a brisk pace, translating into a market share in loans among all banks of 26.63% and a share of 11.3% including all classes of financial institutions. In terms of deposits, the Catalan franchise commands a market share of 20.69% among banks and of 6.48% factoring in the entire regional financial system.