Performance in Mexico, Spain and South America was particularly noteworthy.
Net fees and commissions or revenue for banking services reached
4.59 billion, 17.5 percent higher than last years figures, with a positive performance in all business areas, except Spain. NIl and net fees and
commissions, the banks core revenues, totaled 22.44 billion through September 2023, up 32.1 percent yoy. Furthermore, NTI contributed 1.43 billion, while the line for other operating income and expenses posted an accumulated result of - 1.76 billion on the Groups figures.
In total,
gross income stood at 22.1 billion, up 31.8 percent yoy. Operating expenses grew 22.3 percent through September, to 9.24 billion, mainly due to high inflation rates in the Groups footprint (an average of 18.1 percent over the past 12 months). Nevertheless, the
strength of gross income secured positive jaws and an improvement in the efficiency ratio, which narrowed by 328 bps vs.
the same period a year earlier, to 41.8 percent.
As a result of all the above, operating income rose
39.7 percent, to 12.86 billion, exceeding
the 12 billion mark for the first time. At the end of September, impairments on financial assets stood at 3.2 billion, 35.5 percent higher than the previous year, mainly due to higher provisioning needs in South America and Mexico, amid higher interest rates and
greater activity in the most profitable banking segments. Accordingly, the accumulated cost of risk in the first nine months of the year rose by 7 bps from June 2023 to 1.11 percent. The NPL ratio improved to 3.3 percent in 3Q23, and the
coverage ratio fell slightly to 79 percent.
Between January and September 2023, BBVA posted a net attributable profit of 5.96 billion, up 37.9 percent compared to the same period the previous year (+24.3 percent in current euros). In
3Q23 the bank earned
2.08 billion, an increase of 29.6 percent yoy (+13.4 percent in current euros). Earnings per share rose even higher, to 0.33 (+17.8 percent in current euros) on the back of the share buyback programs that have already been executed.
BBVA continues to create value for its shareholders
Regarding profitability indicators, ROE and ROTE maintained their upward trend, reaching 16.3 percent and 17 percent, respectively, at
the end of September. BBVA thus remains one of the most profitable European banks while continuing to create value for its shareholders: The tangible book value per share plus dividends increased by 18 percent in the past 12 months, to 8.6. These figures include the gross cash dividend of 0.16 per share that was paid in October against 2023 earnings, 33 percent higher than a year earlier. Furthermore, the Group is currently executing a
1 billion share buyback program,
considered extraordinary shareholder distribution.
The fully-loaded CET 1 ratio stood at 12.73 percent as of
September 30, 2023 - well above the banks target range of 11.5 to 12 percent.