BBVA announces €4bn share buyback

(Sharecast News) - Spanish banking giant BBVA has decided to launch a share buyback programme worth up to nearly €4.0bn after its failed takeover approach for Banco de Sabadell. After receiving European Central Bank authorisation for the stock repurchases, BBVA said it would begin buying back shares in batches, starting on Monday.

Some €1.5bn of stock is expected to be repurchased before 7 April as part of the total €3.96bn programme - the largest buyback in the bank's history.

This is on top of the €1bn buyback completed this month, along with the bank's interim dividend of €1.8bn paid in November.

The move is part of a four-year plan outlined by the company in July to step up profits and capital returns, with planned shareholder distributions - through buybacks and dividends - expected to total €36bn through to 2028.

In October, BBVA failed in its attempt in its hostile takeover bid of smaller peer Sabadell for €16.3bn following an intense 18-month battle between the two sides, with the majority of Sabadell shareholders voting against the tie-up.

The latest buyback equates to 3.5% of BBVA's market cap of €113bn, making it the eurozone's second-largest bank by market value following a 111% surge in the stock so far this year.

The shares were up 0.2% at €19.61 by 1039 GMT.