This performance also translates into clear value creation for BBVA shareholders, with increasing returns and an excellent stock evolution in 2025. “We are proposing the distribution of more than €5.2 billion, that is 50 percent of the annual profit. Specifically, we are proposing a cash dividend of €0.60 per share in April which, together with the €0.32 paid last November, raises the total dividend to €0.92 per share—the highest in our history,” he noted. This dividend represents a 31 percent increase compared to the previous year.

“The annual dividend has tripled since 2021, driven by significant increases year after year. In addition, the bank’s stock has seen strong performance, with its price more than doubling over the past year,” he added.

Additionally, BBVA continues to make progress on its nearly €4 billion extraordinary share buyback program¹ announced in December, of which it has already completed a first tranche of €1.5 billion. BBVA announced today a second tranche of said program, for up to €1 billion, with execution set to begin on March 23.

Including dividends and share price appreciation, since January 2019, the total value for BBVA shareholders has multiplied almost six-fold, well above the performance of European and Spanish banks, whose shareholders have seen their investment multiply approximately 3.5-fold.

An increasingly uncertain and fragmented environment

The BBVA Chair underscored that these results are especially remarkable in such a complex international climate. Geopolitical fragmentation, armed conflicts and the technological acceleration are reshaping the global economy. Despite the uncertainty, the economy is showing better-than-expected resilience. BBVA Research estimates point to sustained growth in the countries where BBVA operates (2.4 percent in Spain, 1.8 percent in Mexico, 4 percent in Türkiye and 3 percent in South American countries), although an escalation of the conflict in Iran could negatively impact these figures if the closure of Strait of Hormuz persists.

But there are also “new opportunities such as artificial intelligence and the energy transition that will be key economic drivers over the next few years,” he said.

To successfully navigate this environment, BBVA has defined a clear roadmap as part of its strategic plan: to put the customers’ perspective at the heart of everything the bank does in order to better understand their needs and deliver increasingly relevant and tailored solutions; to grow especially in sustainability and the enterprise segment; and to steer all decisions toward value and capital generation, boosting businesses with low capital consumption, such as insurance, asset management and payments. All this supported by two key levers: artificial intelligence and a talented, ambitious team with a strong customer focus.

BBVA aims to lead banking in the age of artificial intelligence

During his presentation, Carlos Torres Vila emphasized the role of artificial intelligence in the financial sector in particular. In this regard, he anticipates that “artificial intelligence represents an enormous technological transformation, occurring at an unprecedented pace.”

BBVA is rolling out an ambitious strategy to incorporate this technology across all areas of the bank, from customer advisory to risk management and software development. “And we are doing it with a very clear goal in mind: to better serve our clients. A supportive bank that is more anticipatory, more personalized and closer to the client,” he stressed. “We were pioneers in the digital transformation, with tremendous success, and once again, we are going to lead banking in the age of artificial intelligence.”

To sum up, “we will continue to support our customers in their drive to go further, delivering value to our shareholders and generating a positive impact on the societies where we operate,” Carlos Torres Vila concluded.

Growth, efficiency and profitability

Next, BBVA’s Chief Executive Officer Onur Genç stressed that, beyond the results achieved in the year, what truly matters is that “over the past four years, we have more than doubled our profit, with significant growth year after year. This demonstrates our ability to deliver results on a sustained basis,” he added.