As of 31-Dec-2013, CIB reported a new quarterly fall of 4.9% in customer lending, to €45,355m. Over the last 12 months, the reduction rate has slowed and stands at –2.0%. This performance is due, once again, to the lower balances in Europe and, to a lesser extent, in the United States. In this regard, wholesale customers in Spain have reduced their exposure with BBVA by 12.3% since September 2013 and by 7.2% since the end of 2012. In Eurasia, the quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year declines were 9.1% and 11.9%, respectively, while in United States they were 1.9% and 2.8%, respectively. In contrast, there was positive performance in Mexico, with a particularly buoyant wholesale portfolio in the latter part of the year, showing year-on-year growth of 14.7%, and also in South America (up 7.1% in the quarter and 14.0% over the year).
The performance in customer deposits under management has improved compared to previous quarters, and their growth has increased during the quarter (up 11.2%) and also over the last twelve months (up 30.6%). As of 31-Dec-2013 they amounted to €34,750m. The main reason for this strong performance has once again been the diversification in geographical areas, customers and products.
These factors have led to further improvement in the commercial and liquidity gaps of the Group’s wholesale banking business.