BBVA Joins Santander Reporting a Squeeze in Lending Profit on QE

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA followed its bigger competitor in posting a decline in lending profitability as a flood of European Central Bank funding squeezes margins.

Like Banco Santander SA, BBVA was surprised by the severity of the impact of the ECB’s bond-buying program, or quantitative easing. The boost in liquidity has pushed down the euro interbank offered rate, or Euribor, a benchmark used to set borrowing costs for customers taking out loans including mortgages.