Spain's BBVA bank posts steady profit, better than forecast

BBVA, Spain's second-biggest bank by market capitalisation, said Wednesday that net profit last year was largely the same as in 2014 as it faced costs linked to integrating its Turkish subsidiary.

The bank posted full-year net profit of 2.6 billion euros ($2.8 billion), up 0.9 percent from the previous year, and slightly beating analysts' forecasts.

It said in a statement that the third quarter saw a 1.1-billion-euro net loss as earnings were weighed down by the integration of its Turkish Turkiye Garanti Bankasi subsidiary.

But in the final quarter the group returned to profit which jumped more than 36 percent.

BBVA said it had benefited in the Spanish market from the integration of Catalunya Banc and a reduction in bad loans, which experts say are unlikely to ever be repaid.

Profits rose strongly in the United States and were also up in Mexico as well as in South America, BBVA said, adding however that the results did not include Venezuela which is facing an economic crisis.

Its capital adequacy ratio, a measure of a bank's ability to absorb bad loans, remained solid, it said, adding the level of bad loans on its books was below that of other Spanish banks.