BBVA Profit Slips As Spain, Mexico Operations Falter

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA (BBVA) Wednesday said net profit fell 29% in the third quarter as earnings dipped in Spain and Mexico amid rising funding costs, and as the bank set aside more funds to cover losses on its real estate holdings.

Net profit for Spain's second-largest bank by assets behind Banco Santander SA (STD) was EUR804 million compared with EUR1.14 billion a year earlier and below EUR840 million forecast by a Dow Jones Newswires survey of seven analysts.

Net interest income rose 1.3% to EUR3.29 billion, slightly above market expectations for EUR3.22 billion.

The prolonged economic slump in Spain and weakening growth in Mexico weighed on BBVA's earnings in the third quarter, only partly offset by the recent incorporation of results from its acquisition of a stake in Turkey's Turkiye Garanti Bankasi AS (GARAN.IS).

Like most banks in Europe, BBVA shares have suffered in recent months from European debt crisis. The stock is down 25% over the past year, and closed Tuesday at EUR6.31.

-By Christopher Bjork; Dow Jones Newswires; +34913958123; christopher.bjork@dowjones.com

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