Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.

The stable outlook reflects our assumption that although the conflict in Ukraine will take a toll on the growth prospects of most economies where BBVA operates, the impact will be manageable and short-lived. Turkey will likely suffer the most, but the benefits of the higher rates and cost restructuring completed in Spain and the likely maintenance of solid returns in Mexico will give BBVA some room to accommodate lower earning streams from Turkey. Equally, we expect the bank to maintain solid capitalization, with a RAC ratio above 8.5% over the outlook horizon, following the completion of the €3.5 billion share buyback program and the voluntary tender offer to minorities of its Turkish subsidiary. Finally, we do not expect the cushion

...Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. (BBVA) has largely deployed the excess capital generated by the sale of its U.S. operations, but its capitalization remains sound. The bank invested almost 1 billion to restructure its Spanish operations, closing down 20% of its branch network in Spain and reducing its staff numbers by 10%; it bought an additional 36% stake in Turkish Garanti for 1.4 billion, increasing its ownership to 86%; and returned 3.2 billion to shareholders by buying back 9.6% of its share capital. Nevertheless, S&P Global Ratings forecasts the bank's risk-adjusted capital (RAC) ratio will end 2022 at a sound 8.2%-8.5%, and improve somewhat in the years ahead....

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