Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) Goldman Sachs 30th Annual European Financials Conference 2026 summary

Strategic and financial outlook

• Confident in achieving a 22% average ROTE through 2028, supported by strong Q1 performance and upgraded profitability guidance above 20% for 2025.

• Four structural levers drive sustainability: activity growth, margin resilience, revenue diversification, and operational excellence.

• Activity growth outpaces European peers, with 17% year-on-year growth in Q1, supporting profitability.

• Focus on fee-generating businesses and maintaining an efficiency ratio below 38%, targeting 35% midterm.

• Confident in meeting midterm goals despite macroeconomic uncertainty.

Technology and AI transformation

• AI seen as a major disruptive force, expected to enhance customer experience and shareholder value.

• Over 100,000 employees are regular AI users, supporting cultural and technological transformation.

• AI strategy focuses on customer experience, augmented employee productivity, and operational processes.

• Early AI results include 50% time savings in coding, 80% reduction in claims management, and 60% of customer support handled by AI assistants.

• AI Transformation area created to integrate data and technology, aiming for scalable, organization-wide adoption.

Country performance and strategy

• In Spain, client acquisition is central, with 2.8 million new clients since 2023 and a cost-to-income ratio below 34%.

• New clients show high engagement and are expected to generate 4x current income after five years.

• Growth in Spain focuses on SMEs and consumer loans, with selective mortgage growth due to intense competition.

• In Mexico, retail loan growth exceeded 10% (excluding FX), driven by resilient consumer demand and low leverage.

• Market share in Mexico reached 26.1%, with strong deposit franchise and targeted competition against neobanks.