In the first six months of the year, BBVA Spain managed to maintain the level of its recurring revenue. This is particularly significant taking into account the difficult economic situation in the country.

• Cumulative net interest income amounted to €2,300m, up 4.0% year-on-year thanks to the excellent defense of spreads against the backdrop of falling activity and lower interest rates.
• Income from fees and commissions remains practically the same as in the first half of 2011, at €797m, despite the reduced activity and the Bank’s strategy of attracting new customers and increasing the loyalty of existing ones by offering some of the most competitive transactional conditions in the sector.
• Highlights in other revenue included a notable fall in NTI, which was badly impacted by the negative performance of the financial markets; the good performance of the insurance business; and the increased contribution to the Deposit Guarantee Fund.
• As a result, gross income stood at €3,316m, 3.4% below the figure for the same period last year. However, excluding the more volatile items such as NTI and dividends, operating income totaled €3,216m, 1.4% up on the same period last year.
• This performance, combined with containment of costs, which were down 2.8% year-on-year, explain the fact that the efficiency ratio continues at levels that are very similar to a year ago, at 40.8% as of 30-Jun-2012. This maintains the clear competitive advantage of BBVA’s business model.
• Overall, cumulative operating income through June amounted to €1,964m, a fall of 3.9% on the figure for the same period last year. Over the quarter, operating income was 7.6% up on the figure for the first quarter of 2012.
• Also of note is the significant increase in loan-loss provisions in response to the impairment of assets related to the Spanish real estate sector. This impairment has been higher than in previous quarters. In all, a total of €1,434m have been set aside within the scope of Royal Decree Laws 02/2012 and 18/2012, i.e. around a third of the requirements determined by them.
• To sum up, Spain generated an attributable result of –€221m over the six months ended June 30, 2012. Excluding the €788m additional charge in the first half of 2012 mentioned in the above paragraph, the area contributed an adjusted net attributable profit of €567m.