This unit is responsible for the global businesses within Spain. It managed gross lending to customers as of 31-Dec-2012 of €18,906m and on-balance-sheet deposits of €9,175m. Gross lending to customers has continued to fall, basically as a result of the aforementioned deleveraging process. This heading fell once again over the quarter, by 11.2%, with an accumulated decline over the last year of 18.9%. On-balance-sheet funds grew significantly in the last three months of 2012, 29.5%, thanks to the ongoing efforts made to gather deposits. The year-on-year decrease has slowed to 7.8%.

The following are worth highlighting as regards earnings:

• 16.7% year-on-year increase in gross income to €927m, supported mainly by good performance of revenue from customers and, in particular, revenue generated by the Global Transactional Banking unit. In the last part of the year, a better market mood has also made a positive contribution to the generation of gross income.
• Control of operating expenses, which have grown well below the inflation rate (up 1.2% year-on-year) to €323m.
• Operating income up 27.1% on 2011 to €603m.
• Greater volume of impairment losses on financial assets as a result of the current situation. Even so, the NPA ratio in this segment continues to be low.
• As a result, the accumulated net attributable profit was at levels similar to those posted the previous year: €325m vs. €324m in 2011.
• The most significant transactions and highlights for the period are detailed in the CIB section at the end of this report.