The United States ended the year with a net attributable profit of €475m, well above the previous year, when it reached €320m if the goodwill impairment is excluded. Thus, the area’s earnings grew 39.6% on the figure of 2011 (adjusted for the aforementioned goodwill impairment). The better figures are a result of continued improvement in asset quality, together with the containment of operating costs.
Gross income in the area amounted to €2,395m in 2012, a year-on-year decline of 4.2%. The environment of low interest rates and flat curves, together with the run-off of the Guaranty portfolio, affected the net interest income, which was down 4.7% in the same period. The year on year fall in the cost of deposits and improved activity did not offset the negative figures mentioned above. Regulatory pressures also had a negative impact on income from fees, which fell by 11.1%. BBVA Compass has implemented a number of measures designed to mitigate the adverse effects of the new regulatory environment (Durbin). An example of this is the increase in commissions from new residential mortgage loans.
The area was able to successfully manage operating expenses, enabling overall costs to decline by 1.7% in 2012 compared with the same period in 2011. This improvement is largely attributable to streamlining of operating expenses, the result of the implementation of the technological platform in all BBVA Compass branches. As a consequence, operating income amounted to €812m, 8.6% down on 2011.
Impairment losses on financial assets fell by 75.9% year-on-year to €90m.
Finally, the capital ratios of BBVA Compass remained solid, according to local criteria: a Tier 1 Ratio of 11.7% and a Tier 1 Common of 11.4%.
