BBVA Raises Interim Dividend to Record Level Amid Sabadell Offer

By Adria Calatayud

BBVA said it would boost its interim dividend to a record level, as the Spanish lender seeks to bring its hostile takeover offer for Banco de Sabadell over the line.

The bank--formally known as Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria--said late Monday that it would raise its interim dividend by 10% to 32 European cents (38 U.S. cents) a share. BBVA said this was a record level for its interim dividend and reflected the bank's solid earnings performance.

Shareholders in Sabadell that accept BBVA's takeover bid will also receive the dividend, given that payment is expected to take place once the offer is settled, BBVA said.

In its second-quarter results in late July, BBVA said it expected to have about 13 billion euros available to be handed to shareholders in the short term, including through share buybacks and dividends.

BBVA sweetened its bid for Sabadell last week, with an all-stock offer that valued the target at 17 billion euros based on the closing share price of the day before the change of the terms. Sabadell's board, which opposed the terms of BBVA's previous offer, has yet to issue its formal opinion on the revised bid.

The revised offer was approved by Spain's securities markets regulator, which on Thursday said that shareholders in Sabadell have until Oct. 10 to accept it.

BBVA went hostile in its pursuit of Sabadell--a deal that would create Europe's third-largest bank by market value after HSBC and Santander--in May last year.

Write to Adria Calatayud at adria.calatayud@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 30, 2025 01:37 ET (05:37 GMT)