\u201cThe upgrade reflects a combination of Fitch\u2019s improved assessment of the Spanish operating environment, resulting in a stronger risk and funding profiles for the Group, and BBVA\u2019s record of strong earnings generation, underpinned by income diversification by geography,\u201d the agency noted.<\/p>\n
The key drivers supporting Fitch\u2019s upgrade include the bank\u2019s resilience across economic cycles, its decentralized subsidiary model, its geographic diversification, the credit quality of its retail banking model, its strong and growing earnings, its adequate capitalization level, and its funding strategy.<\/p>\n
As for the bank\u2019s resilience, Fitch underscored that \u201cBBVA\u2019s rating reflects resilient earnings across multiple economic and interest-rate cycles.\u201d The agency noted that earnings stability is supported by geographically diversified and cost efficient operations, with solid retail franchises and broad, stable deposit bases, complemented by good access to wholesale funding. Fitch also praised BBVA\u2019s decentralized model, with self-sufficient subsidiaries that fund their activities with local resources. \u201cBBVA is Spain\u2019s second-largest banking group and has built strong franchises in Mexico, T\u00fcrkiye, and several South American countries. This supports its business growth, earnings diversification, and a solid funding profile,\u201d Fitch stated. \u201cBBVA\u2019s potential acquisition of Banco Sabadell would strengthen its footprint in Spain, materially closing the gap with the domestic market leader,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n
The agency also considers that BBVA\u2019s retail banking model supports the quality of its assets, as reflected in the bank\u2019s \u201cextensive expertise in periods of stress, effective controls, and franchise strength in foreign markets.\u201d<\/p>\n
On earnings, Fitch emphasized that \u201cBBVA\u2019s operating profit is among the strongest of its peers\u201d between 2021 and 2024, with Spain and Mexico as the main contributors. Specifically, it pointed to growth in business volumes, reduced interest rate sensitivity, wide margins in emerging markets, higher fee income, and good cost efficiency.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fitch expects that BBVA CET1 capital ratio will gradually steer toward the upper end of its 11.5%\u201312% target range, supported by further capital distributions, organic growth, and the potential impact of the acquisition of Banco Sabadell. Finally, it underscored BBVA\u2019s funding profile, noting its \u201csolid local franchises\u201d and \u201cstrong access to a large investor base via a diversified wholesale funding sources.\u201d<\/p>\n
BBVA ratings according to leading rating agencies<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cThe upgrade reflects a combination of Fitch\u2019s improved assessment of the Spanish operating environment, resulting in a stronger…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2028,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[123],"tags":[148],"class_list":{"0":"post-2027","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bbva","8":"tag-bbva"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2027","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2027"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2027\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2028"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}