Summary: Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.

Strong franchise in almost all markets where the bank operates. Diversification benefits provided by foreign operations. Conservative risk management and comparatively low credit risk profile. Sound and resilient operating profitability. Business concentration in countries with higher-than-average economic risk. Comparatively weaker creditworthiness of Spain, which concentrates over half of BBVA's asset base. Moderate, albeit improving, capitalization. The stable outlook reflects our expectation that all factors driving our ratings are unlikely to change. We anticipate that BBVA will continue developing its strong retail banking franchises in the majority of countries in which it operates, with a focus on strengthening profitability while preserving what we see as a conservative strategy. We consider that the impact of the economic slowdown in some emerging markets

...Outlook: Stable The stable outlook reflects our expectation that all factors driving our ratings are unlikely to change. We anticipate that BBVA will continue developing its strong retail banking franchises in the majority of countries in which it operates, with a focus on strengthening profitability while preserving what we see as a conservative strategy. We consider that the impact of the economic slowdown in some emerging markets will be manageable. Following BBVA's acquisition of an additional stake in Turkish bank Turkiye Garanti Bankasi AS (Garanti), and of Catalunya Banc S.A. (Catalunya) in Spain, we do not envisage further meaningful merger and acquisition activity. Instead, we expect the bank to focus on integrating the aforementioned acquisitions. As economic conditions in Spain become more supportive, we expect that BBVA's asset quality will keep improving and that the bank will continue to outperform its peers. Lower credit provisions, cost control, and steady earnings growth...

Summary