BBVA’s exposure to the real estate sector in Spain is ring-fenced and fell by €481m over the quarter. The most relevant aspect, as in previous quarters, continues to be the increase in provisions to cover the additional impairment in the value of assets associated with the real estate industry owing to the country’s worsening macroeconomic situation. Following the effort made in loan-loss provisions, at the close of 2012 the Group complies with the requirements imposed by Royal Decree-Laws 02/2012 and 18/2012.
As a result of the above, there has been an increase in the real estate coverage ratio by 6 percentage points over the quarter to 43%.