Re Joint Venture

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA
11 November 2003


Press Release                                             11.11.2003

                     BBVA and BNL create a consumerfinance

                             joint-venture in Italy

  • The new company will start operating during the first half of 2004
  • It aims to take up a 5% market share within five years


BBVA and BNL today announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding for
the creation of a new company to develop the consumer credit business in Italy.
The enterprise will be owned 50-50 by each organisation, with a total investment
of 150 million euros over a five-year period. Its aim will be to achieve a
market share of approximately 5% by 2008.


The new company is expected to be operative as of the first half of 2004, once
it has all the permits required. It will offer a varied range of financial
products: consumer loans, revolving credit cards, personal loans and salary
advances (known as 'Cesion del V' under Italian regulations).


The company will be using both its own and third-party networks to distribute
these products. The senior executives in the new joint venture will be appointed
by common agreement amongst the shareholders.


Its business plan envisages establishing an equity capital of 150 million euros
over five years, achieving approximately a 5% share of the Italian market in
this time.


This is the first joint venture that BNL and BBVA have established since the
Spanish banking institution joined the Italian bank's shareholding in 1998, when
it was privatised. It represents the first step towards even closer industrial
and institutional relations.


The operation will reinforce BNL's positioning in the consumer-lending segment
in the Italian market, and enable BBVA to move into one of the most attractive
and highest potential-growth consumer-finance markets in Europe.


BBVA will bring to the new company its considerable expertise in developing and
managing this kind of business, in which it holds a leadership position in
Spain, Portugal and various Latin-American countries. BNL, for its part, will
contribute its experience in the sector. It has a market share of 10% of
personal loans of the Italian banking system. To 30th September, it has provided
Italian households with 2.8 billion euros in loans and finance.


'We are very satisfied today to be able to announce this new joint initiative
with BNL, one of the banks with greatest growth potential in Italy, and we are
sure that together, we will succeed in establishing a leading franchise in the
consumer lending business,' said Gonzalo Torano, BBVA Corporate Expansion
Director.


'For us, it is a point of great satisfaction that BBVA, our key shareholder,
should work together with us to develop this business line, which is undoubtedly
going to be a great success', added Luigi Abete, BNL's Chairman.


At present, the consumer finance market in Italy represents slightly over 3% of
its Gross Domestic Product, a lower figure than in Germany (10.3%), the United
Kingdom (14.5%) or Spain (17.2%). Thus, there is plenty of room for BBVA and BNL
to develop the new business together.


In Spain, BBVA operates its consumer lendig activities through its branch
network, with a 15.4% share of the financial system. Furthermore, BBVA Finanzia,
the group's specialist consumer lending company, ranks second on the ASNEF
rating (Asociacion Nacional de Establecimientos Financieros - Spanish
Association of Financial Establishments) with a share of 13.4% among independent
financial institutions.




BBVA is one of the biggest international banking groups, with assets of 284,816
million euros (30/09/03) and a net attributable profit of 1,719 million euros
(31/12/2002). It operates in 35 countries, employs nearly 86,000 staff and
serves 40 million customers. Its network of almost 7,000 branches makes it the
bank with the highest number of branches under the same brand worldwide. In
Europe, the BBVA Group is acknowledged as one of the continent's leading
financial institutions in market capitalisation, solvency, profitability,
cost-income and non-performing loan ratios. In Latin America, where it has
leading market shares in the different banking markets, private pensions and
insurance businesses, BBVA has successfully developed a leading franchise in a
short time.




BNL, listed on the Milan Stock Exchange (Mib 30), is one of the biggest Italian
banking groups and amongst the top 100 banks worldwide. The BNL Group provides a
wide range of banking, financial and insurance services, from the most
traditional to the most innovative, to satisfy the demands of its retail,
corporate and public sector customers. In Italy, it operates through its nearly
700 branches, as well as its 1,300 ATM's, 30,000 electronic points of sale,
telephone and online banking services. BNL offers three kinds on Internet
services: BNL e-banking (banking, brokerage and purchases for retail customers),
Business Way (for small and medium-sized enterprises) and Ediway (for corporate
clients).


                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange