The United States generated a net attributable profit of €341m in the first nine months of 2012, a rise of 29.3% year-on-year and is gradually increasing its contribution to the Group’s earnings.
With respect to revenue, net interest income in the area continued to be negatively affected by the Guaranty run-off, the write-down of securities portfolios and the current environment marked by low interest rates and a practically flat curve. However there was also a positive impact from increased lending volume and a year-on-year reduction in the cost of deposits. In addition, new loans showed a trend towards improved yields. As a result, this heading remained at the levels seen in previous quarters and stood at €1,285m, down 3.6% on the amount posted for the same period in 2011. Income from fees and commissions between January and September also fell 11.6% to €463m as a result of regulatory pressures. Excluding these two items, BBVA Compass would have shown a slight year-on-year increase thanks partly to the rise in service fees, which went up 9% year to date. The other income/expenses heading amounted to a negative €43m in the area, compared with –€66m in the first nine months of 2011 (at constant exchange rates). Finally, NTI rose slightly by 1.3% to €121m. As a result, the area’s gross income in the year through September totaled €1,826m (down 4.4% year-on-year) and shows high resilience if the situation in which it was generated is taken into account: low interest rates, turmoil in the markets and strong regulatory pressures.
Good management of operating expenses enabled costs to fall by 1.1% in the last 12 months to €1,191m. Specifically, certain expenses related to premises were brought down by more than half in Compass compared with the accumulated figure as of September 2011. Impairment losses on financial assets were in line with the trend seen in previous quarters, leading to a year-on-year decrease of 70.4% to €92m.
Finally, it is worth highlighting the sound capital ratios published by BBVA Compass as of September 30, 2012: 11.5% for Tier I and 11.3% for Tier I Common, both using local criteria.
In short, there has been a significant increase in the area’s earnings, very much supported on the local business, thanks to reduced impairments on financial assets, cost discipline and the resilient revenues.
