In the first quarter, Mexico posted a net attributable profit of €453m, equivalent to year-on-year growth of 14.7%, the highest in the last three years, with outstanding generation of recurring revenue.
Net interest income has shown very strong performance. It increased by 17.1% over the last 12 months, reflecting the good performance of lending activity in recent quarters. This trend has meant that BBVA has maintained its position in Mexico as one of the most profitable banks in terms of net interest income over ATA, with a ratio of 5.7% at the close of March 2014 (compared with 5.1% in the sector under local criteria, according to the latest available information as of February from the “Comisión Nacional Bancaria y de Valores –CNBV–”).
Income from fees and commissions has increased at a more moderate pace (4.1% year-on-year), due to lower revenue from operations from investment banking than in the previous year, when there was a record number of corporate issues on the Mexican debt and capital markets.
Operating expenses grew year-on-year less than gross income (up 6.6% as against 10.1%). As a result, the efficiency ratio has improved by over 120 basis points over the last 12 months to 37.0%. BBVA thus maintains its position as one of the most efficient banks in the Mexican system.
Lastly, there has been an increase in impairment losses on financial assets, although the risk premium remained stable and closed the quarter at 3.51%, five basis points below the cumulative figure for 2013.
