Business areas

This section presents and analyzes the most relevant aspects of the Group's different business areas. Specifically, for each one of them, it shows a summary of the income statement and balance sheet, the business activity figures and the most significant ratios.

The structure of the business areas reported by the BBVA Group as of December 31, 2021, differs from the one presented at the end of 2020, mainly as a consequence of the removal of the United States as a business area, derived from the sale agreement reached with PNC and closed on June 1, 2021, once the pertinent mandatory authorizations were obtained. BBVA continues to have a presence in the United States, mainly through the wholesale business which the Group develops in the New York branch and its broker dealer BBVA Securities Inc.

The composition of BBVA Group business areas is summarized below:

• Spain mainly includes the banking and insurance businesses that the Group carries out in this country, including the proportional share of the results of the new company created from the bancassurance agreement reached with Allianz at the end of 2020.
• Mexico includes banking and insurance businesses in this country, as well as the activity that BBVA Mexico carries out through its branch in Houston.
• Turkey reports the activity of the group Garanti BBVA that is mainly carried out in this country and, to a lesser extent, in Romania and the Netherlands.
• South America mainly includes banking and insurance activity conducted in the region. The information for this business area includes BBVA Paraguay data for the results, activity, balances and relevant business indicators for 2020 and is not included in 2021 as the sale agreement was reached in January 2021.
• Rest of Business mainly incorporates the wholesale activity carried out in Europe (excluding Spain) and in the United States, as well as the banking business developed through BBVA’s 5 branches in Asia.

The Corporate Center contains the centralized functions of the Group, including: the costs of the head offices with a corporate function; structural exchange rate positions management; portfolios whose management is not linked to customer relations, such as financial and industrial holdings; stakes in Funds & Investment Vehicles in tech companies including the venture capital fund Propel Venture Partners; certain tax assets and liabilities; funds due to commitments to employees; goodwill and other intangible assets as well as such portfolios and assets' funding. Additionally, the results obtained by BBVA USA and the rest of the companies included in the sale agreement to PNC until the closing of the transaction on June 1, 2021, are presented in a single line of the income statements called “Profit (loss) after taxes from discontinued operations”. Finally, the costs related to the BBVA S.A. restructuring process in Spain, being considered such process a strategic decision, are included in this aggregate and are recorded in the line "Net cost related to the restructuring process".

In addition to these geographical breakdowns, supplementary information is provided for the wholesale business carried out by BBVA, Corporate & Investment Banking (CIB), in the countries where it operates. This business is relevant to have a broader understanding of the Group's activity and results due to the important features of the type of customers served, products offered and risks assumed.

The information by business areas is based on units at the lowest level and/or companies that make up the Group, which are assigned to the different areas according to the main region or company group in which they carry out their activity. The figures corresponding to 2020 have been elaborated following the same criteria and the same structure of the areas previously explained, so that the year- on-year comparisons are homogeneous.

Regarding the shareholders' funds allocation, in the business areas, a capital allocation system based on the consumed regulatory capital is used.

Finally it should be noted that, as usual, in the case of the different business areas in America, Turkey, Rest of Business and CIB, apart from including the year-on-year variations applying current exchange rates, the ones at constant exchange rates are also given.

Main income statement line items by business area (Millions of euros)

GROSS INCOME⁽¹⁾, OPERATING INCOME⁽¹⁾ AND NET ATTRIBUTABLE PROFIT⁽¹⁾ BREAKDOWN (PERCENTAGE. 2021)

⁽¹⁾ Excludes the Corporate Center.

MAIN BALANCE-SHEET ITEMS AND RISK-WEIGHTED ASSETS BY BUSINESS AREA (MILLIONS OF EUROS)

BBVA Group, as of December 31, 2021, had 110,432 employees, 6,083 branches and 29,148 ATMs, a decrease of 10.3%, 18.2% and 6.0%, respectively, compared to the end of December 2020. The decrease was mainly due to the removal of BBVA USA and the rest of the companies in the United States following its sale on June 1, 2021, as well as the beginning of the employee departures and branch closures as a result of the restructuring plan of BBVA S.A. in Spain.

With regard to the number of employees in Mexico, there has been an increase, explained by the internalization of employees whose tasks are directly linked to the Bank's activity. This internalization, carried out in July 2021, is part of the labor reform in the country.

Number of employees

Number of branches

Number of ATMs