BBVA To Sell Loan Portfolio To Reduce Real Estate Exposure

Amid plans of further reducing real estate exposure in Spain, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (NYSE:BBVA) has agreed to sell its €1 billion ($1.16 billion) property loan portfolio. Per a Reuters report, the portfolio is being sold to the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, which invests the assets of the Canada Pension Plan.

The bank, the second largest in Spain, has been striving to reduce the non-performing assets from its balance sheet as the property market in Spain witnesses a rebound.

Supported by the economic recovery in the region, banks in Spain have a competitive advantage over the ones in Italy. Spanish banks have been more successful in managing their balance sheets than Italian banks.

Notably, since December 2016, BBVA (MC:BBVA) has been successful in reducing its real estate exposure by nearly €20 billion.

In November 2017, the bank had agreed to sell 80% of its real estate exposure to U.S. fund Cerberus. With a gross value of €13 billion, the deal is expected to be completed by third-quarter 2018.

Notably, shares of BBVA have lost 16.3% in the past year compared with 0.1% decline of the industry.

Currently, BBVA carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

A few better-ranked stocks from the same space are Banco de Chile (NYSE:BCH) , Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC) and Bank of Montreal (TO:BMO) . The stocks currently carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Shares of Banco de Chile have gained 25.9% over the past 12 months. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current-year earnings has inched up nearly 1% over the last 60 days.

Banco Santander-Chile’s shares have gained 26.2% in the past year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has remained stable over the last 60 days.

Bank of Montreal’s shares have gained 10.2% over the past 12 months. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current fiscal’s earnings has climbed 1.5% over the last 60 days.

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