Spain's BBVA in the red in fourth quarter

Spain's second largest bank BBVA said its net profit tumbled 34.8 percent in 2011 to 3.004 billion euros ($3.95 billion), going into the red in the fourth quarter because of a devaluation of its US business. The bank on Thursday posted a 139 million euro net loss in the fourth quarter 2011, down sharply from a 939 million net profit a year earlier. The fourth-quarter figures fell short of market expectations, with analysts waiting for a net profit of around 150 million euros. On January 10, BBVA said it expected to cut the goodwill value of its US business, resulting in a one billion euro impact on 2011 results. Goodwill is a value given to intangible assets, such as reputation, good labour relations or patents which are counted on the company's books in the same way as physical assets. "On the other hand, the signalled adjustment will not affect cash flow nor the liquidity situation of BBVA," the bank said in a statement to the Spanish financial regulator on January 10. The devaluation also would not hurt dividend payments to shareholders, it added. "And it has a positive effect on the group's core capital, which will increase by approximately 400 million euros because of the tax treatment of goodwill."