MADRID, April 27 (Xinhua) -- Spain's second largest bank BBVA earned 1.34 billion euros (1.62 billion US dollars) in the first quarter of the year, the bank reported on Friday.
The figure meant a 11.8 percent increase when compared with the same period of a year before, and it was the highest quarterly result in the past three years.
"A solid performance of recurring revenues, moderation in operating expenses and the drop in impairment losses on financial assets and provisions were the main drivers supporting this growth", the bank said.
The non-performing loan rate ended the quarter at 4.4 percent as opposed to the 4.6 percent of December.
Friday also saw Spain's third-largest bank Caixabank report a profit of 704 million euros in the first quarter of the year, which meant a 74.7 percent increase when compared with the same period of a year earlier.
"The main factors behind this growth were the strength of core revenues, the reduction of provisions and higher income from stakes", the bank reported.
The bank's non-performing loan rate stood at 5.8 percent, falling from the 6 percent of December 2017.
After the burst of the housing bubble in 2008, the Spanish banking system struggled with large amounts of bad loans and toxic assets. As a result, some of them had to be bailed out. (1 euro = 1.21 U.S. dollars)
