BBVA delivered a sweeping set of record numbers in the second quarter, underscoring the strength of its emerging-market-heavy franchise and its ability to squeeze industry-leading profitability from rapid loan growth. Net attributable profit surged to \u20ac3.062 billion, up 11.4% from a year earlier and 2.4% quarter-on-quarter, while first-half earnings hit an all-time high of \u20ac6.051 billion. Return on tangible equity reached 22.2% for the half, cementing BBVA\u2019s position as one of Europe\u2019s most profitable large banks.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce again, we have demonstrated the strength of BBVA\u2019s business model,\u201d said CEO Onur Gen\u00e7 on the earnings call. \u201cWe have delivered record earnings, industry-leading profitability, strong activity growth, and capital generation while reinforcing our competitive position.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bolstered by the results, the bank announced a new \u20ac2 billion extraordinary share buyback, with the first \u20ac1 billion tranche to begin on August 5 and run through year-end. The move reflects what Gen\u00e7 described as a \u201cfirm commitment\u201d to distribute all excess capital above the 12% CET1 target. Pro forma for the buyback, the CET1 ratio would be 12.41%, still well above the target, leaving room for further payouts in the second half.<\/p>\n
Financial Highlights<\/p>\n
MetricQ2 2026Q2 2025QoQ ChangeNet attributable profit\u20ac3.062B+11.4% YoY+2.4%Net interest income+17.8% YoY\u2013+2.1%Net fees & commissions+16.2% YoY\u2013\u2013Gross income+15.7% YoY\u2013broadly stableEfficiency ratio37.8%\u2013improved 77bp ex-itemsCET1 ratio12.90%+7bp QoQ\u2013ROTE (H1)22.2%\u2013\u2013<\/p>\n
Loan Growth \u2013 The Relentless Engine<\/p>\n
BBVA\u2019s loan book expanded by an extraordinary 17.7% year-over-year in constant euros (20% in current euros), far outpacing European peers. The bank has now grown its loan portfolio by 62% since December 2020, compared with just 10% for a peer group of European banks. Crucially, this growth has not come at the expense of returns: ROTE widened to 22.2% versus 15.1% for the peer average.<\/p>\n
\u201cProfitable growth is the best predictor of future value creation, and this is precisely what BBVA continues to deliver,\u201d Gen\u00e7 said.<\/p>\n
Spain and Mexico both accelerated. Spain\u2019s loans grew 7.4% year-on-year, with consumer and enterprise segments far outpacing the market. BBVA Spain gained 84 basis points of market share since 2020, and an even sharper 276 bps in consumer lending. In Mexico, the loan book expanded close to 10%, and market share rose to 26.17%, up 272 bps since 2020, despite fierce fintech competition.<\/p>\n
MarketLoan Growth YoY (local)Profit (H1)Key DriversSpain7.4%\u20ac2.2B (+2.3% YoY)New customer acquisition, transactionalityMexico~10%\u20ac3.0B (+8.2% YoY cc)Retail & wholesale, ALCO supportSouth America\u2013\u20ac556M (+33.6% YoY)Peru & Colombia strength, FXRest of Business (CIB)52% (loans)\u20ac508MCross-border corporate lendingTurkey\u2013\u20ac532MFee-driven, NII under pressure<\/p>\n
Outlook Upgrades \u2013 and One Caution in Turkey<\/p>\n
Management upgraded several full-year targets, reflecting the strong first half:<\/p>\n
MetricPrevious GuidanceNew GuidanceGroup ROTE\u2013~21% (up from previously implied)Mexico loan growthMid-single digit~10%Mexico NII growth\u2013High single digitMexico cost of risk~335bp<335bpSouth America gross revenueDouble digitsHigh teensTurkey cost of risk~200bp~220bpGroup efficiencyBelow 35%Below 35% maintained<\/p>\n
The only revision down: Turkey\u2019s cost of risk guidance was nudged to around 220 basis points from 200 basis points, as the normalization of retail portfolios takes longer than expected in a \u201chigher for longer\u201d rate environment. Still, full-year net profit in Turkey is expected around \u20ac1 billion with a slight downward bias, compared with \u20ac532 million in the first half.<\/p>\n
Spain \u2013 Deposits Defy the Rate Cycle<\/p>\n
A highlight of the call was Spain\u2019s ability to grow demand deposits by 5% year-over-year despite rising competition for savings. Gen\u00e7 attributed this to the bank\u2019s relentless focus on new customers (nearly 500,000 in the first half alone) and transactionality: BBVA holds a 16.6% market share in payroll accounts versus its 14.2% loan share, and similarly higher shares in acquiring and cash management. With a loan-to-deposit ratio of 98%, Spain has \u201cthe capacity to manage the cost of funding\u201d effectively.<\/p>\n
Customer spread improved by 3 basis points in the quarter, and Gen\u00e7 sees further improvements each quarter from here as rates begin to stabilize.<\/p>\n
Capital and Buyback \u2013 \u2018We Don\u2019t Like Excess Capital\u2019<\/p>\n
BBVA generated 7 basis points of CET1 in the quarter, lifting the ratio to 12.90%. Strong organic earnings and risk-transfer transactions (SRTs) more than offset high loan growth and shareholder distributions. The bank expects to deliver 30\u201340 basis points of CET1 per year organically, and is on track for the higher end of that range, helped by recent SRTs, including a first-ever Mexican SME portfolio transaction executed in July.<\/p>\n
Gen\u00e7 was unequivocal on capital returns: \u201cWe don\u2019t like to work with excess capital. When we have excess capital above 12%, we will distribute it back to our shareholders.\u201d<\/p>\n
Q&A: AI Exposure, Mexico Competition, and the CIB Boom<\/p>\n
Analysts probed several areas of rapid expansion.<\/p>\n
AI risk: Marta Sanchez Romero (JPMorgan) asked about the bank\u2019s exposure to AI-related lending given the breakneck pace of CIB growth. Management said total exposure to data centers was just 0.7% of EAD, technology 0.5%, and financial sponsors under 0.8%. \u201cWe don\u2019t see a major risk profile for BBVA,\u201d Gen\u00e7 said.
\nMexico competition: Asked about Nubank\u2019s new banking license, Gen\u00e7 noted that BBVA gained credit card market share despite the fintech\u2019s 3.6% market share. \u201cWe will compete really nice,\u201d he said.
\nCIB run-rate: Gen\u00e7 stressed that the 52% loan growth in Rest of Business is sustainable, anchored by cross-border client business (40% of client revenues) and RORWA of around 3% ex-Turkey\/Argentina. \u201cOur CIB business is not prop trading \u2013 it\u2019s client-led growth.\u201d
\nM&A: With the buyback dilutive to high ROTE, Andrea Filtri (Mediobanca) asked if external growth hurdles were too high. Gen\u00e7 said the hurdle is cost of equity: as long as deals generate positive EVA, they would be considered, but \u201ctoday, we are completely organic-focused.\u201d<\/p>\n
AI Transformation Taking Shape<\/p>\n
The bank confirmed it has over 100,000 employees actively using AI tools, and is now moving to a framework for industrializing AI agents at scale\u2014with detailed strategic presentations scheduled for October 6.<\/p>\n
Luisa G\u00f3mez Bravo, in her final earnings call as CFO, signed off with typical resilience: \u201cNever a dull moment,\u201d she said, thanking analysts for their \u201ccontinuous source of self-improvement.\u201d Gen\u00e7 paid tribute, saying she had been \u201cone of the architects\u201d of BBVA\u2019s historic run.<\/p>\n
With record profits, upgraded guidance, and a fresh buyback, BBVA heads into the second half with considerable momentum. The only uncertainty remains whether Turkey\u2019s macro environment will finally allow inflation\u2014and interest rates\u2014to ease, unlocking the next leg of growth in a key market.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BBVA delivered a sweeping set of record numbers in the second quarter, underscoring the strength of its emerging-market-heavy…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":63210,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[123],"tags":[148,25330,25332,25329,247,4263,25331,25328,24451,1240,1760,17,2251],"class_list":["post-63209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bbva","tag-bbva","tag-cet1","tag-cib","tag-luisa-gomez-bravo","tag-mexico","tag-net-interest-income","tag-nubank","tag-onur-genc","tag-rote","tag-share-buyback","tag-south-america","tag-spain","tag-turkey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63209","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=63209"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63209\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}