Spain
Highlights
- Growth in lending activity in the year
- Significant improvement in efficiency
- Favorable evolution of net interest income and improvement in the customer spread
- Solid risk indicators with a decrease in the balance of non-performing loans and the NPL ratio
Business activity (1)
(VARIATION COMPARED TO 31-12-21)
(1) Excluding repos.
Net interest income/AVERAGE TOTAL ASSETS
(Percentage)
Operating income (Millions of euros)
Net attributable profit (LOSS)(1) (Millions of euros)
(1) Excludes the net impact arisen from the purchase of offices in Spain in 2Q22.
Financial statements and relevant business indicators (Millions of euros and percentage)
| Income statement | Jan.-Sep. 22 | ∆% | Jan.-Sep. 21 (1) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net interest income | 2,695 | 2.3 | 2,634 |
| Net fees and commissions | 1,635 | 2.4 | 1,596 |
| Net trading income | 329 | 24.0 | 265 |
| Other operating income and expenses | (13) | n.s. | 19 |
| Of which: insurance activities (2) | 289 | 7.8 | 268 |
| Gross income | 4,646 | 2.9 | 4.514 |
| Operating expenses | (2,157) | (4.3) | (2,254) |
| Personnel expenses | (1,169) | (8.6) | (1,279) |
| Other administrative expenses | (681) | 5.0 | (648) |
| Depreciation | (307) | (5.9) | (326) |
| Operating income | 2,489 | 10.2 | 2,259 |
| Impairment on financial assets not measured at fair value through profit or loss | (332) | (17.3) | (402) |
| Provisions or reversal of provisions and other results | (37) | (84.7) | (242) |
| Profit (loss) before tax | 2,120 | 31.2 | 1,616 |
| Income tax | (604) | 42.6 | (423) |
| Profit (loss) for the period | 1,516 | 27.2 | 1,192 |
| Non-controlling interests | (3) | 35.6 | (2) |
| Net attributable profit (loss) excluding non-recurring impacts | 1,514 | 27.1 | 1,191 |
| Net impact arisen from the purchase of offices in Spain | (201) | n.s. | - |
| Net attributable profit (loss) | 1,312 | 10.2 | 1,191 |
- (1) Restated balances. For more information, please refer to the “Business Areas” section.
- (2) Includes premiums received net of estimated technical insurance reserves.
| Balance sheets | 30-09-22 | ∆% | 31-12-21 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cash, cash balances at central banks and other demand deposits | 48,898 | 85.3 | 26,386 |
| Financial assets designated at fair value | 135,011 | (7.2) | 145,546 |
| Of which: Loans and advances | 36,529 | (27.9) | 50,633 |
| Financial assets at amortized cost | 206,925 | 3.6 | 199,646 |
| Of which: Loans and advances to customers | 176,152 | 3.0 | 171,081 |
| Inter-area positions | 37,726 | 11.1 | 33,972 |
| Tangible assets | 2,941 | 16.1 | 2,534 |
| Other assets | 5,953 | 11.3 | 5,346 |
| Total assets/liabilities and equity | 437,454 | 5.8 | 413,430 |
| Financial liabilities held for trading and designated at fair value through profit or loss | 87,972 | 8.1 | 81,376 |
| Deposits from central banks and credit institutions | 67,373 | 23.0 | 54,759 |
| Deposits from customers | 212,863 | 3.0 | 206,663 |
| Debt certificates | 38,976 | 2.0 | 38,224 |
| Inter-area positions | - | - | - |
| Other liabilities | 16,302 | (11.4) | 18,406 |
| Regulatory capital allocated | 13,967 | (0.3) | 14,002 |
| Relevant business indicators | 30-09-22 | ∆% | 31-12-21 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Performing loans and advances to customers under management (1) | 173,460 | 3.1 | 168,235 |
| Non-performing loans | 8,146 | (3.6) | 8.450 |
| Customer deposits under management (1) | 212,299 | 3.1 | 205,908 |
| Off-balance sheet funds (2) | 85,181 | (9.5) | 94,095 |
| Risk-weighted assets | 108,733 | (4.5) | 113,797 |
| Efficiency ratio (%) | 46.4 | 51.7 | |
| NPL ratio (%) | 3.9 | 4.2 | |
| NPL coverage ratio (%) | 64 | 62 | |
| Cost of risk (%) | 0.24 | 0.30 |
- (1) Excluding repos.
- (2) Includes mutual funds, customer portfolios and pension funds.
Macro and industry trends
Economic activity has been quite dynamic in the first half of the year 2022, despite the war in Ukraine. However, this has put upward pressure on energy and food prices, contributing to a rise in inflation to 9.0% in September. According to BBVA Research, GDP is expected to grow by 4.4% this year, three-tenths of a percentage point higher than the previous forecast, an adjustment mainly driven by the surprising GDP growth in the second quarter of the year. The interest rate hikes by the ECB, disruptions in the gas market and the global and European slowdown are expected to moderate the economy, and GDP growth in 2023 would stand around 1.0, about 0.8 percentage points less than previous expectations by BBVA Research. Inflation will remain higher than previously forecast and above the ECB target of 2%, especially in 2022, but also in 2023 (averaging around 9.3% in 2022 and 4.8% in 2023).
With regard to the banking system, credit to the private sector increased slightly by 1.0% year-on-year as of July 2022, following an overall decrease of 0.1% in 2021. The non-performing loan ("NPL") ratio continued to fall and stood at 3.85% in July 2022, 54 basis points lower than July 2021 and 44 basis points better than end-2021. The system also maintains comfortable solvency and liquidity levels.
Activity
The most relevant aspects related to the area's activity during the first nine months of 2022 were:
- Lending activity (performing loans under management) was higher than at the end of 2021 (+3.1%), due largely to the growth in business segments, especially corporate loans (+12.7%) and SMEs (+9.5%), as well as higher consumer balances (+5.5%, including credit cards).
- Total customer funds remained stable, with a variation of -0.8% compared to 2021 year-end. In the first nine months of the year 2022, off-balance sheet funds recorded a decrease of 9.5%, mainly due to the negative effect of market evolution, despite the positive net contributions. For its part, the balance of customer deposits under management increased by 3.1% between January and September with an increase in demand deposits by 3.3% and 1.6% in time deposits.
The most relevant of the evolution of the area's activity in the third quarter of 2022 has been:
- Lending activity remained flat compared to the previous quarter (+0.1%), mainly due to the seasonal reduction in loans to the public sector (-12.7%) and impacted by lower mortgage balances (-1.5%). This was partially offset by growth in corporate loans (+8.2%), loans to SMEs (+1.7%) and consumer loans (+1.4% including credit cards).
- With regard to asset quality, the NPL ratio decreased 13 basis points in the quarter to 3.9% with a decrease in non- performing loans (-2.8%), lower NPL entries together with proactive management of recoveries and write-offs. In terms of coverage, the ratio increased in the quarter to 64%.
- Total customer funds also remained flat between July and September. By product, growth in time deposits (+13.0%), reduction in off-balance sheet funds (-1.9%, affected by the unfavorable market evolution) and flat evolution in demand deposits (-0.2%).
Results
Spain generated a net attributable profit of €1,514m between January and September of 2022, up 27.1% from the result achieved in the same period of the previous year, due to the dynamism of recurring income from banking activity (net interest income and fees) and net trading income (NTI), which together with lower operating expenses and provisions, have driven the year-on-year evolution. This result does not include the net impact of €-201m from the purchase of offices from Merlin, recorded in the second quarter of the year. If this impact is taken into account, the cumulative net attributable profit of the area at the end of September 2022 stands at €1,312m, 10.2% above the net attributable profit for the same period of the previous year.
The most notable aspects of the year-on-year changes in the area's income statement at the end of September 2022 were:
- Net interest income registered a year-on-year increase of 2.3%, mainly as a result of higher volumes and rates in the managed loan portfolio.
- Net fees and commissions had a positive performance (+2.4% year-on-year), mainly supported by a greater contribution from fees and commissions associated with banking services.
- NTI at the end of September 2022 was 24.0% above the one achieved in the same period of the previous year, mainly due to the greater contribution of the Global Markets unit.
- The other operating income and expenses line compares negatively to the first nine months of the previous year, mainly due to the higher contribution to the SRF, which was partially offset by the good performance of the insurance business (+7.8%).
- Year-on-year decrease in operating expenses (-4.3%), mainly due to lower personnel expenses as a result of the staff reduction.
- As a result of gross income growth and the declined expenses, the efficiency ratio stood at 46.4%, representing a significant improvement compared to the 49.9% recorded at the end of September 2021.
- Impairment on financial assets was 17.3% below the one recorded in the first nine months of 2021, due to the good performance of the underlying asset between January and September of 2022. As a result thereof, the accumulated cost of risk at the end of September 2022 stood at 0.24%, still contained, although slightly above the 0.20% at the end of June as a result of the usual review of the parameters used in estimation models.
- The provisions and other results line closed the first nine months of the year at €-37m, which compares very positively with last year, due to, among other factors, the higher results from real estate asset sales and lower provisions for off-balance sheet risks, compared to the same period in 2021.
In the third quarter of 2022, Spain generated a net attributable profit of €504m a 142.4% compared to the previous quarter, which included the net impact of the purchase of offices from Merlin and the contribution to the SRF.