In this difficult environment, BBVA continues to stand out from its peers, and is also demonstrating a great capacity to meet solvent demand for credit and continue its commitment to customers.
Gross lending to customers closed June at €211,264m, 1.4% down on the figure at the close of December 2011 and 4.5% down on the figure for 30-Jun-2011, reflecting the deleveraging process underway in the Spanish economy. In an environment of limited new production, it is worth noting that the Bank is maintaining its market share of lending stable so far this year.
Lending has risen by 1.1% on the first quarter of 2012, basically due to two factors:
- Execution of the fund to finance payments to suppliers, in which the BBVA Group is an active participant with a 10.2% share of the whole operation. This has resulted in around €2,700m of new lending in the second quarter.
- A temporary increase in the balances closely related to market transactions, such as repos and guarantees. As of 30-Jun-2012 these balances increased by 48.0% on the figure for the close of 31-Mar-2012.
With respect to the asset quality of BBVA’s portfolio in Spain, the NPA ratio ended 30-Jun-2012 at 5.1%, an increase of 21 basis points on the close of March 2012, closely reflecting the difficult economic situation of the country and the debt deleveraging process. Nevertheless, this ratio is lower than that in the sector as a whole. The coverage ratio as of 30-Jun-2012 was 50% (43% as of 31-Mar-2012), due to the increase in provisions on previous quarters to cover the greater impairment associated with real estate development. Additional funds have been set aside for this purpose, and as a result the Group’s coverage ratio in the area has improved.
Spain managed a total €149,660m of customer funds as of 30-Jun-2012, of which €108,914m were customer deposits and promissory notes, and €40,746 were off-balance-sheet funds.
On-balance-sheet customer funds were outstandingly stable over the quarter, despite the reduction in some types of funds from the wholesale business that are strongly linked to credit ratings. This stability is due to the positive performance of deposits in the Retail and Commercial Banking unit, whose balance as of 30-Jun-2012 went up by 3.8% quarter-on-quarter (up 2.8% year-on-year), and specifically the retail segment, where they increased 4.7% over the quarter and 6.6% over the last 12 months. Off-balance-sheet funds managed by the area amounted to €40,746m, down 6.8% on the quarter (down 13.7% year-on-year). The fall is due to a reduction in assets under management as a result of the market turmoil, above all in 2012. Of this amount, €19,656m belong to mutual funds, with a 16.8% market share (data to May), and €17,181m to pension funds. Pension funds maintained their level of March 2012, and rose 1.2% year-on-year. As a result, BBVA retains its leading position, with a joint market share of individual and corporate pension funds in Spain of 17.0% (as of March, the latest available data).