Carlos Torres Vila: “BBVA is in a great position to continue to grow and stand out as one of the best banks in Europe”
BBVA Chair Carlos Torres Vila noted that 2024 was a great year for the bank, which has solidified its position as a benchmark in the European financial sector in terms of growth and profitability. He also said that the bank expects to maintain similar levels of profitability in 2025. “BBVA is in a great position to continue to grow and stand out as one of Europe’s best banks,” he stated. This performance stems from the success of the bank’s strategy, focused on innovation, digitization, and sustainability, as well as the profound transformation that has taken place in recent years. As a result, BBVA has very successfully concluded its strategic cycle 2019-2024, Torres Vila underscored in an interview published on BBVA’s corporate website. Regarding the transaction with Banco Sabadell, he is convinced that its shareholders “will appreciate the extraordinary combination of the two banks.”
Press kit
Carlos Torres Vila reflected on BBVA’s achievements in 2024. The Chair expressed pride in BBVA not only being "the European bank with the best profitability ratios" but also having "the highest credit growth rates (+11 percent year-on-year as of September 2024), which sets us apart from others."
“We have far exceeded all the strategic goals we set for the period ending in 2024,” he stated. Torres Vila pointed to several key metrics: return on equity, which at the end of September 2024 was around 20 percent; shareholder value creation, which grew at an annual rate of 18 percent in the past three years, doubling the target set in 2021; and customer growth. In 2024, once again, more than 11 million new customers joined BBVA.
Furthermore, Torres Vila stressed the impact of sustainability on BBVA’s strategy, having achieved its target of channeling €300 billion in sustainable financing between 2018 and 2025 a year ahead of schedule.
He also underscored BBVA’s commitment to creating value for its shareholders over recent years. Specifically, the bank has distributed approximately €15 billion in dividends and share buybacks since 2021. “Since 2019, our shareholders have nearly tripled the value of their investment, achieving total returns far superior to those of European and Spanish competitors¹,” he pointed out.
“These achievements are the result of the hard work, dedication, and commitment of BBVA’s more than 120,000 professionals, to whom I want to express my deepest gratitude for their great work,” he said.
Positive economic outlook amid a challenging environment
In a global context marked by uncertainty, Torres Vila stressed the need to strengthen investment in Europe to upgrade infrastructure, advance the energy transition, and harness technological disruption. “Europe requires over €700 billion annually to maintain its competitiveness in a more fragmented world,” he said. He also emphasized the importance of promoting the European banking union and the capital markets union and having larger, stronger banks to channel savings into productive investment.
Regarding the markets where BBVA operates, the Chair predicted positive prospects for 2025. In Spain, economic growth is expected to exceed the European average, while Mexico will continue benefiting from its proximity to the U.S. and its cost advantages over other countries. He also anticipates favorable trends in Türkiye and Argentina, which are showing signs of recovery, and sees significant banking potential in countries like Colombia and Peru.
BBVA's strategic priorities for the future
BBVA begins the new year with optimism, confident in maintaining profitability levels similar to those of 2024. The BBVA Chair specifically pointed to future growth drivers, including positive business and credit dynamics in Spain and Mexico, the long-term value of Türkiye and Argentina, and strong credit quality alongside proactive interest rate risk management.
Carlos Torres Vila outlined some of the key priorities of BBVA’s future strategy, which will continue to focus on a customer-oriented approach: “From an even more radical stance of putting ourselves in [the customer’s] shoes in order to have a deeply positive impact on their lives– acting as the springboard that can help them realize their dreams, supporting their drive to go further, whether they are individuals or businesses.” The bank will focus on growing its enterprise segment, where it sees significant opportunities, and on sustainability, which will remain a top priority. Technology and artificial intelligence, driven by data availability, will underpin these efforts. “And all this will be driven by a winning, empathetic team working to create value for everyone, including the bank’s shareholders,” he added.
Carlos Torres Vila also stressed the role of artificial intelligence in enhancing customer support and delivering better service. “In 2025, we aim to introduce far greater personalization in the services we offer our customers using generative AI,” he added.
“Banco Sabadell’s shareholders will appreciate the extraordinary combination of the two banks”
The BBVA Chair added that the transaction with Banco Sabadell “is proposed because it benefits everyone: customers, shareholders, employees of both institutions, and society at large. It represents a commitment to the growth of our country and reinforces our focus on key regions, such as Catalonia and the Valencian Community.” He also noted that the combination will enable an annual increase of €5 billion in financing capacity, especially benefiting SMEs and families, who will gain access to a bank with a broader physical and digital infrastructure and a global range of products and services.
Carlos Torres Vila added that in order to ensure the success of this integration, the bank has presented unprecedented remedies to the Spanish Competition authority (CNMC). These measures aim to foster financial inclusion, secure credit for SMEs, and maintain the sector's competitiveness. “We are confident that Banco Sabadell’s shareholders will appreciate the extraordinary combination of the two banks,” he said.
Looking ahead, BBVA faces the future “with optimism and the confidence to continue building a stronger bank, with greater capacity to support our customers and create value for all stakeholders,” Torres Vila concluded.