BBVA yesterday added a new argument against the extraordinary banking tax, the application of which could extend beyond 2024 in accordance with what the PSOE and Sumar have agreed in their agreement to form a government. The bank's chief executive officer, Onur Genç, assured in the results presentation press conference that the extension in time of the lien may affect foreign investment.
"There will be less investment in Spain in the future. It creates legal uncertainty and the feeling that the rules are suddenly changing. Who will want to invest in an environment where the rules are constantly changing?” asked the manager.
Genç did not leave the criticism here. He said that extending the tax "will not be good for Spain" and that it will reduce the ability of banks to grant credit. He also described it as "unfair" that it "only applies to banks of a certain size" and national banks: "The only ones who will not be competitive in Spain will be the Spanish banks", he said.
The discomfort of the entity is added to that already expressed by Santander or CaixaBank when they presented their results, which have coincided in time with the agreement between the PSOE and Sumar, which also includes other measures against the interests of the entities, such as the reactivation of the plan to create the Financial Client Defense Authority.
Despite the criticism, BBVA has achieved record results in the first nine months of the year, boosted by Spain. The profit was 5,961 million, 24% more than during the same period of the previous year, and with only one quarter to end the year, it is close to the 6,420 million earned in 2022, when BBVA already broke his earnings record.
In Spain, the bank obtained a profit of 2,110 million, 61.9% more, despite the payment of 215 million related to the new bank tax. The volume of credits granted in the country fell by 1.8% mainly due to mortgage amortization and the reduction of debt among large companies. Interest margins, which are the difference between income from loans and what is paid for deposits, increased by 50.8%, while the default rate stood at 4%.
The bank as a whole, which also operates mainly in Mexico and Turkey, added an interest margin of 17,843 million, up 36.5%, and commission income of 4,594 million, up 17.5%. The sum of these two variables placed the total income at 22,437 million, 32% more.
The group operates in countries with high inflation, with an overall rate of 18% over the last twelve months, which caused a 22% increase in operating expenses, up to 9,241 million.
It says that it has a high level of liquidity, so it will not significantly raise the remuneration of deposits. In some cases, he says, he is granting mortgages "at a loss", given the highly competitive scenario.
