BBVA Launches €1 Billion Share Buyback Program, Strengthening Commitment to Shareholder Distributions

BBVA Launches €1 Billion Share Buyback Program, Strengthening Commitment to Shareholder Distributions

(IN BRIEF) BBVA, with a robust capital position boasting a fully-loaded CET1 ratio of 12.99 percent as of June 2023, has announced its intention to initiate a new share buyback program worth €1 billion. This program is considered an extraordinary distribution and is in addition to regular dividend distributions. The bank’s distribution policy aims for a payout to shareholders between 40 and 50 percent of BBVA’s earnings, encompassing cash dividends and potential extra share buybacks. BBVA has already distributed €8.2 billion in dividends and share buybacks to shareholders since 2021. With this extraordinary share buyback and recent interim dividend announcements, the total distribution will exceed €10.2 billion. BBVA is dedicated to enhancing value for its shareholders, having seen a 121 percent increase in total profitability for shareholders since January 2021. The share buyback program will acquire three million shares daily until reaching the €1 billion target, primarily executed in the Spanish Continuous Market and DXE Europe.

(PRESS RELEASE) BILBAO, 3-Oct-2023 — /EuropaWire/ — BBVA’s solid capital position (with a fully-loaded CET1 ratio of 12.99 percent as of June 2023) prompted the bank to announce on July 28, 2023, its intention to proceed with a new share buyback program for €1 billion, in line with its commitment to maintaining attractive shareholder distributions.

This buyback program has the consideration of extraordinary distribution, that is, being additional to the regular dividend distributions. The policy establishes a payout (to shareholders) of between 40 and 50 percent of BBVA’s earnings, including cash dividends and possible additional share buybacks.

Since 2021, BBVA has distributed €8.2 billion in dividends and share buybacks to shareholders. When adding this to the interim dividend against 2023 earnings recently announced and this extraordinary share buyback, the total amount will increase to more than €10.2 billion.

BBVA is firmly committed to creating value for its shareholders. Since January 2021 and to date, total profitability for BBVA shareholders¹ has increased by 121 percent (including stock performance and dividends), well above the average of its European (73 percent) and Spanish (75 percent) peers.

The share buyback program will be implemented through the acquisition of three million shares per day, until completing the target of €1 billion. Specifically, BBVA will execute the repurchase of shares in the Spanish Continuous Market and the DXE Europe, where the bank is setting a daily target to purchase 2.5 million and 500,000 shares, respectively. BBVA already used this method in its previous share buyback.

This is the second extraordinary share buyback implemented by the bank over the past two years. On August 19, 2022, BBVA completed a share buyback program for €3.16 billion, one the largest in Europe. In said repurchase, the bank acquired a total of 637,770,016 shares, representing 9.6 percent of the capital at the time. Furthermore, BBVA completed on April 21, 2023, a share buyback for €422 million, acquiring 64.64 million shares, approximately 1.07 percent of BBVA’s social capital, as part of the execution of its distribution policy with the consideration of ordinary shareholder distribution against 2022 earnings.

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SOURCE: BBVA