Record year for BBVA

Linda Hall

BBVA bank reported a record year with its biggest­ever net profit of €6.42 billion, up 38 per cent on 2021.

Outstripping both the €6.12 billion that the bank posted in 2007 and 2018’s €5.32 billion, this year’s showing was aided by a double­digit increase in lending income and a strong performance in Mexico.

Thanks to these results, BBVA announced its largest cash dividend for 14 years, paying out 31 cents per share, and also revealed a share repurchase plan of €422 million. In all, the bank is assigning €3 billion to shareholder distribution, 47 per cent of the bank’s 2022 net profit.

ALMOST 13,000 offshore companies which hold UK property have not declared their ultimate owners.

They now face fines and a ban on selling their land, the government said, as Martin Callanan, minister for Business, Energy and Corporate Responsibility, commended the new register listing the overseas owners of UK properties.

This was “invaluable” for tax and revenue services, Callanan declared, as it brought transparency to opaque offshore trusts.

Nevertheless, as only 19,510 of 32,440 registered overseas organisations have disclosed the identities of their beneficial owners, this

Renting out

BUYING a garage space with a view to renting it out could be an enticing option for modest investors.

Acquiring one ranges from €20,256 in the Basque Region in northern Spain to €7,170 in Murcia, according to the online property portal, Fotocasa.

On average, this will bring a return of 7.5 per cent nationwide, while another real estate website, Idealista, put it at 7.1 per cent.

Fotocasa’s Maria Matas also pointed out that both garage and house or apartment rentals were at present more profitable than any other financial product.

“2022 was a year of growth for BBVA,” said the bank’s chairman Carlos Torres Vila. “We had the highest profit in our history, with significant growth in lending and major advances in our strategy, focused on digitisation, innovation and sustain­ ability.” Torres Vila added that looking ahead, and despite world uncertainty, BBVA would continue to create opportunities and contribute to the economic and social growth of the countries where it had a presence. Mexico accounted for more than 60 per cent of BBVA’s net earnings in 2022, with a net profit rising 64 per cent and income from lending increasing by 44 per cent. This year the bank has predicted mid­teens growth in lending income and double­digit growth in loans there.

At the same time, some analysts have cited risks from BBVA’s exposure to Turkey where the bank has started to implement hyper­inflationary accounting.