Earnings Briefs

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

BBVA earnings flat

Spanish bank Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, the parent of Birmingham-based BBVA Compass, said Tuesday its third-quarter net profit dropped 1 percent from a year earlier as defaults on loans increased amid the recession.

BBVA said net profit for the three-month period was 1.38 billion euros ($2.07 billion) compared with 1.39 billion euros in the third quarter a year earlier.

U.S. profit was 20 million euros, about level with the same quarter of 2008. The company reported a nonperforming asset ratio of 3.9 percent in the United States. BBVA Compass is the third-largest bank in Mobile and Baldwin counties, with $991 million in deposits.

Bloomberg News reported that BBVA President Angel Cano told analysts on a Tuesday conference call that the bank is "very attentive" to opportunities to take over failed banks from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. BBVA, which bought Compass in 2007 for $9 billion, took over Texas' Guaranty Financial Group Inc. in August, becoming the first foreign company to buy a failed U.S. bank in the current crisis.

Profit rises for Akzo Nobel

Akzo Nobel NV, the world's biggest maker of paints, said Tuesday that profit rose 30 percent in its third quarter as the benefits of cost cutting and restructuring offset lower sales.

Net profit was 197 million euros ($293 million), up from 152 million euros in the same period a year earlier. Sales fell 10 percent to 3.64 billion euro.

"We have seen some signs of an improvement in emerging markets, but overall we don't foresee a quick recovery," said Akzo Nobel Chief Executive Officer Hans Wijers in a statement.

Akzo Nobel makes household paints and coatings used on appliances, packages, machinery, ships and planes. The company has a plant in Axis where 109 employees produce a variety of chemical additives, including carbon disulfide.

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