of the above amount. The unit is also conducting specific
actions including a credit line (ICO-Moratorio) to help
customers with financial difficulties meet their payments.
More than 7,000 have taken advantage of this initiative.
The residential mortgage loan portfolio at 31-Mar-09
stands at €68,543m (up 1.7% year-on-year). The balance
of consumer finance is €7,937m; the amount invoiced
declined on lower demand despite highly competitive
initiatives, such as the new car loan campaign (Crédito
Coche).
The customer funds market is adapting to the new level
of interest rates for time deposits and there is growing
demand for other products of the type included on the
balance sheet. Accordingly the unit launched two
campaigns (Nóminas and La Jornada de Tu Vida) that
lifted the balance of savings and current accounts 5.2%
to €28,285m. In view of customers’ needs and requests,
it also developed new savings products (Depósitos
Dobles, Multidepósitos, Depósito Creciente BBVA and
Depósito Fortaleza) that boosted the balance of time
deposits 10.9% year-on-year to €33,457m. The assets
in the unit’s mutual and pension funds outperformed the
market and the amounts under management came to
€29,253m and €9,135m, respectively.
Significant achievements in the insurance business
included the capture of €40m in individual plans
(Ahorro Sistemático) and the issue of €141m in
premiums for individual life and non-life policies. BBVA
Seguros continues to lead in individual life insurance
policies in Spain with a 14.7% market share at
December 2008 (latest available figure).
In the immigrants segment, where money transfers are
one of BBVA’s strengths, the unit extended service to
cover a new location, Senegal, with more than 10,000
customers. In addition it added more than 500 new
payment points at branches of the Romanian Bank of
Commerce.
BBVA Patrimonios, the unit that handles high-net-worth
individuals in Spain, currently manages assets of
€9,454m (€10,851m at 31-Mar-08). It increased the
number of customers 7% despite the adverse economic
conditions. Operations in the first quarter included
€50m in structured products and autocallable bonds as
well as the rollout of the Proa Plan aimed at attracting
customer funds away from the competition. BBVA thus
strengthens it leadership in a product specific to private
banking. Personal Banking manages €29,437m in
customer funds and €8,301m in securities. The unit
designed a strategic plan to capture new customers in
the local and foreign markets.
The small business segment covers professional
practices, the self-employed, retailers, the farming
community and small companies. BBVA is one of the
leaders in this segment. The corresponding loan
portfolio stands at €15,343m (€17,124m at
31-Mar-08). In line with the area’s goal of contributing
to economic growth by facilitating access to credit, the
unit is promoting credit lines for this segment. The
campaigns include the pre-approved loans mentioned
above, 5,768 ICO operations worth €140m and nearly
4,250 interest rate risk hedging operations. BBVA
Seguros has updated one of its policies (Más cobertura
professional) and this led to invoicing of more than
€5m in the quarter and the signing of 5,900 policies.
Lastly, BBVA handled the direct payment of 9,870
farming subsidies, amounting to about €50m.
Corporate and Business Banking
The Corporate & Business Banking Unit (CBB) deals
with the SMEs, large companies, institutions and real
estate developers segments. The CBB’s management
model is based on several lines of action. They include
growth plans by analysing the potential of the portfolio
of customers and cross-marketing of different products
such as insurance, foreign trade, derivatives, etc. Priority
is given to marketing the ICO credit lines and proactive
management of risk and recoveries. Despite the negative
developments in the market, this unit’s loan portfolio at
31-Mar-09 was up 3.4% to €91,147m and customer
deposits came to €12,753m (up 1.1%). The progressive
replacement of expensive funding, together with lower
demand for mutual funds, caused total funds under
management to drop 13.8% to €26,554m.
However the improvement in business volume, the unit’s
work in anticipating and differentiating and the
favourable development of lending spreads in all
segments, helped operating income to rise 12.0%
year-on-year to €420m (up 17.6% excluding earnings
linked to the markets evolution). Net attributable profit
came to €246m (down 7.9%) and the fall is due to
higher provisioning.
During the quarter the unit signed all the agreements
the ICO has launched so far. They include one for small
companies with attractive terms to finance investment in
productive fixed assets and another for small and
1Q09 BUSINESS AREAS
Spain and Portugal
31
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