In 2011, income from fees and commissions was very stable, with a year-on-year rise of just 0.5% to €4,560m. This figure is relevant given the environment in which it was achieved: regulatory limitations came into force in some areas, activity slowed in Spain and some fees were reduced to ensure customer loyalty.
NTI reached €1,479m and fell back 21.9% on the amount recorded in the same period of 2010. This course was affected, primarily, by the loss of asset value because of the convulsive situation of the markets in 2011, the reduced activity with customers and the lack of earnings from portfolio sales.
Revenue from dividends, which basically includes BBVA’s stake in Telefonica (paid in May and November), went up 6.3% to €562m.
Income accounted by the equity method was €600m (up 79.2% year-on-year), thus maintaining its good performance thanks to the excellent results from CNCB.
The other operating income and expenses item amounted to €205m in 2011, a fall of 30.6% on the figure for 2010. The positive performance of the insurance business, where revenue went up by 12.7%, does not offset the increased allocations to deposit guarantee funds in the different geographical areas where BBVA operates, or the effect of hyperinflation in Venezuela.
In short, recurring revenue has continued to rise since the third quarter of 2010, despite the difficult economic and financial situation in 2011. In 2011 as a whole its level was similar to the previous year. Gross income, not counting NTI and dividends, which represents 90% of the Bank’s total revenue, stood at €18,525m in 2011 (€18,487m in 2010 and 88% of total revenue last year). Including NTI and dividends, gross income amounted to €20,566m, a year-on-year fall of 1.6%. However, this represents a rise of 0.3% excluding the exchange-rate effect.
