BBVA profit plunges 16% on provisions

Spain’s second-largest bank BBVA posted a 16.1 % decline in 2009 net profit to €4.21bn ($5.9bn) as the impact of the global downturn forced it to make more provisions.

One-time charges included early retirement fees and write-down’s on loan losses in Spain, the US and Mexico, BBVA said on Wednesday.

Net interest income – a measure of BBVA’s core lending business – rose 18.8 % to €13.88bn, beating a forecast for €13.66bn.

Bad loans as a percentage of the total rose to 4.3 per cent at the end of December from 3.4 per cent at the end of September.