BBVA Slips To Hefty Loss In Q1 On COVID-19 Provision; Net Interest Income Up

(RTTNews) - Spanish bank Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA or BBVA (BBVA) reported Thursday that its first-quarter net attributable loss was 1.79 billion euros, compared to last year's profit of 1.18 billion euros.

The latest quarter results included a 2.08 billion euros goodwill impairment at the U.S. unit including front-loaded provisions of 1.43 billion euros related to the COVID-19 crisis.

Excluding impairment, adjusted net attributable profit was 292 million euros, down 75.3 percent.

BBVA posted a recurring profit of 1.26 billion euros, up 6.4 percent from last year.

Operating income grew 14.1 percent to 3.57 billion euros, the highest of the past 10 years. The company said the strong growth allowed it to absorb the charge related to impairments for COVID-19.

BBVA's net interest income was 4.56 billion euros, a growth of 3.6 percent on a reported basis and 7.5 percent at constant exchange rates, mainly on the back of a solid business performance in Turkey, South America and Mexico.

Recurring revenues grew 7.2 percent at constant exchange rates.

Net Trading Income increased 39.5 percent to 594 million euros.