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"In terms of us capturing a larger market share then we hope for a great growth story this year" Vicente Rodero, BBVA |
Despite deteriorating markets and a collapse in global credit Vicente Rodero, chief executive of Latin America at BBVA, is adamant that profits from the region won’t decline in 2009: "I won’t say it’s business as usual right now because that wouldn’t be true," he says, "but after our first-quarter results we are optimistic that we are on track to have 2009 results similar to last year – the results from the first quarter were very nice."
The operating profit of its south America business in 2008 increased 28.8% in local-currency terms and net attributable profit rose 22.7% to €727 million. The bank overall recorded a net attributable profit in 2008 of €5.4 billion, a similar level to 2007. Much of the bank’s success is attributable to its Latin American business, which accounts for 44.4% of group profits.
BBVA executives are not resting on their laurels: "2008 was a great year but there is still a lot of work to do," says Rodero.