The world economy continued to show signs of recovery in the first quarter of 2014. In the United States, after initial months of weaker than expected economic data, the recovery is gaining traction and the Fed has continued its steady withdrawal of monetary stimuli begun at the end of 2013. In Europe, the ECB is maintaining its base rate at all-time lows, supporting the recovery of the euro zone, and it has opened the door to the use of unconventional expansive measures if necessary (prolonged period of low inflation). In emerging markets, following the significant depreciation of some currencies, the situation appears to have stabilized and the differences between economies are becoming increasingly clear.
The improved macroeconomic tone of Europe, particularly in peripheral countries such as Spain, has been reflected in the behavior of the financial markets. The general European Stoxx 50 index registered a 1.7% quarterly gain at the close of March, and the Ibex 35 was up 4.3%. The recovery has been particularly noticeable in the financial sector. The Eurozone banking index, Euro Stoxx Banks, gained 9.8% over the quarter.
BBVA’s earnings figures for the fourth quarter of 2013 have been well received by equity analysts, particularly in terms of the quality and soundness of its capital, above all the Basel III fully-loaded ratio. Analysts have also highlighted the good performance of consolidated net interest income and asset quality in Spain, in particular the performance of gross additions to NPA, falling loan-loss provisions and stability in the coverage ratio. By business areas, there were surprisingly good results in Spain, Mexico and South America.
The BBVA share closed the quarter at €8.72 per share, a decline of 2.6% on the price as of December 31, putting market capitalization as of 31-Mar-2014 at €50,442m.
The average daily volume traded between January and March 2014 increased on the last quarter of 2013, with a 3.1% rise in the number of shares to 40 million and a 6.7% increase in euros to €362m.
With respect to shareholder remuneration, and as approved by the Annual General Meeting held on March 14, 2014, the capital increase against reserves was executed in April to implement the system of shareholder remuneration called the “dividend option”. This offers BBVA shareholders the chance to choose between receiving the amount equivalent to the traditional final dividend in either new BBVA shares or in cash. Each shareholder has a free allocation right for each BBVA share held on March 28, 2014, with 51 rights entitling the holder to one new BBVA share. Shareholders may sell the free allocation rights to BBVA for a fixed guaranteed amount of €0.168 gross per share, or on the market during their trading period. The new shares were allocated on April 24, 2014 and began ordinary trading on the following day, April 25. The holders of 89.2% of the free allocation rights opted to receive new shares, which once more confirms the success of this remuneration system.
The BBVA share and share performance ratios
Download Excel
|
|
31-03-14 | 31-12-13 |
|---|---|---|
| Number of shareholders | 968,213 | 974,395 |
| Number of shares issued | 5,785,954,443 | 5,785,954,443 |
| Daily average number of shares traded | 40,386,450 | 39,188,130 |
| Daily average trading (million euros) | 362 | 340 |
| Maximum price (euros) | 9.96 | 9.40 |
| Minimum price (euros) | 8.49 | 8.17 |
| Closing price (euros) | 8.72 | 8.95 |
| Book value per share (euros) | 7.92 | 8.00 |
| Market capitalization (million euros) | 50,442 | 51,773 |
| Price/book value (times) | 1.1 | 1.1 |
| PER (Price/earnings; times) | 15.0 | 23.2 |
| Yield (Dividend/price; %) | 4.2 | 4.1 |
Share price index
(31-03-13=100)
