The president of BBVA, Carlos Torres, together with the CEO Onur Genç. /
Carlos Torres is confident that the recovery of the economy will continue during 2022
The president of BBVA, Carlos Torrres, has launched this Friday a message with some drops of pessimism and others of optimism, although with the feeling that nobody is capable of making an accurate bet at the moment on the consequences of the invasion of Ukraine by part of Russia.
Torres has been convinced that “we are heading towards a new world order”, while he has drawn attention to the “important consequences” that the war is going to have on “the economy and world trade”.
He has also referred to the “great human tragedy” that it entails. “We want it to be a short conflict, but we must be willing to continue supporting as much as we can even if it lasts a long time. It is our duty and our responsibility », he pointed out. The proposal for the re-election of Carlos Torres as director received the support of 97.5% of the votes cast at the meeting.
That is the pessimistic message because, Torres stressed, the invasion of Ukraine “introduces new economic uncertainties” at a time when doubts about the real impact of the pandemic were beginning to clear up. “There is no doubt that the war will increase inflation and negatively affect growth, although with important differences between countries. The magnitude of these impacts will depend on many factors, including the response of monetary, fiscal and regulatory policies,” argued the president of the financial institution.
The drops of optimism from the president of BBVA have come from the hand of a hope, that “the recovery of the economy can be maintained in 2022”, as well as the analysis of the course that the bank is heading and that allowed it to obtain a remarkable economic result in the past exercise.
Looking inside the financial institution, the president recalled that the 4,653 million euros of profit reaped last year represented 3.6 times the result of the previous year.
In 2021, BBVA managed to overcome a complicated situation, since in 2020 the results suffered a very significant negative impact as a result of the losses recorded due to the impairment of the value of its North American subsidiary Compass, sold last June. Also due to the important clean-ups carried out to prevent the consequences of the crisis generated by Covid. Compass, however, still contributed 280 million euros to the bank’s profit last year for its results before the sale.
€3.5 billion
Torres pointed out to the shareholders that the recurring result obtained by the bank last year – the one that comes from typical banking activity, without taking into account extraordinary factors – was “the highest in the last decade”. A situation that has made it possible to substantially improve shareholder remuneration.
An objective to which 3,500 million euros have also been allocated for the repurchase of shares that will later be redeemed. BBVA has already completed the first phase of this repurchase, with which it has withdrawn from the market just over 4% of the share capital, while announcing the start-up of a second tranche of acquisitions, to which it will allocate 1,000 million euros .
The approved dividend charged to last year’s results is 31 euro cents per share, of which 8 cents have already been paid and the remaining 23 cents will be delivered to shareholders next April.
Torres has been confident that the bank’s financial strength will allow BBVA to go through the new crisis without major impacts. “The strength of capital gives us great strategic options, to grow, investing in countries where we are already present, and to withstand unfavorable situations that may arise as a result of the conflict in Ukraine”, he pointed out.
In his speech to shareholders, he also made reference to the consequences that the conflict with Russia is going to have on the energy sector, which could speed up European plans to move towards the decarbonisation of society. An objective that the bank itself assumes as its own and to which 275 billion dollars will be allocated until the year 2050.
Torres made reference to the digitization of banking, a strategy that BBVA has had its eyes on for years, not only to improve efficiency -do more things at a lower cost-, but also to enter new business areas . Thus, he has highlighted the significant increase in the contracting of products through digital channels, as well as the experience of entering the Italian market at the moment with only a digital platform.
In this context, he referred to the controversy in which the banking system in Spain is involved as a result of the closure of branches and the limitations of hours, having delved into the digital gap that exists with part of the clientele .
In this sense, Torres has assured that the bank is sensitive to the demands of society and has assured that they are taking measures to avoid this gap with customers. “We don’t want to leave anyone behind,” Torres assured. A UGT representative, however, stated at the meeting that the bank’s data on digital activity does not match reality, “because sales that have been obtained in person are executed as digital.”
During the meeting, a representative of the Workers Commissions union has defended face-to-face attention in the branches against the bank’s digital career, in addition to criticizing the pressure on the workforce to carry out the objectives. “This has to end,” said the trade unionist, who has also charged against the increase in bonuses for managers. For his part, a representative of the ELA union has referred to the “precariousness” that has been installed in the bank, especially after the adjustment of the workforce.
During the shareholder’s speech, the former president of the Sacyr construction company, Luis del Rivero, who was allegedly spied on by Commissioner Villarejo on behalf of the bank, took the floor. Del Rivero has demanded the resignation of the president and the board of directors because, in his opinion, “they are not collaborating with the justice system” to clarify the alleged irregularities.