Financial assets held for trading closed as of 31-Dec-2013 at €72 billion, of which €38 billion correspond to derivatives positions, practically the same figure as for the derivatives positions included in financial liabilities held for trading. To sum up, the net position in the trading portfolio as of 31-Dec-2013 (assets minus liabilities) was €27 billion, compared with €24 billion the previous year (up 10.1%). This increase is due to the rise in debt securities and capital instruments entries in the Global Market units.
The increase of 13.1% in available-for-sale financial assets to €81 billion is due to two factors: first, the reclassification in the third quarter of 2013 of the balance of the held-to-maturity investments in order to establish uniform management criteria for all the ALCO (Assets and Liabilities Committee) portfolios; and second, the conclusion of the agreement with CITIC group, which includes the sale of 5.1% of CNCB, has meant that the remaining stake in the group has been classified as available for sale.
Investment in entities accounted for using the equity method has fallen by 78.0% to €1.5 billion due to the aforementioned reclassification of BBVA’s remaining stake in CNCB.
Finally, BBVA’s total equity as of 31-Dec-2013 was €45 billion, an increase of 2.3% on the figure as of 31-Dec-2012, despite the negative impact of exchange rates (incorporated in valuation adjustments). This increase is basically due to the generation of earnings (after dividend payments) and the conversion of the outstanding mandatory convertible bonds issued in 2011, which took place on June 30.
