I have 5,837,940,380 shares, worth €0.49 face value each, all of the same class and series, and fully subscribed and paid up. Having read the attendance cards that have been collected before we began the AGM, the, with the proxies and the remote votes, we have the following provisional quorum. Attending this AGM online and on-site, we have 70,872 shareholders, holding 598,320,917 shares, representing €293,177,249.33 of share capital, which is 10.25% of the bank share capital.
By proxy, we have represented 79,965 shareholders, holding 3,547,753,666 shares, representing EUR 1,738,399,297.32, which is 60.77% of the holding, which means a total of 150,837 shareholders, holding 4,146,074,585 shares, representing EUR 2,031,576,546.65, which is 71.02% of the share capital. So we have that list, which has been read out by the shareholder.
So we can say that in line with what we have established by law, we have in attendance here, in order to resolve on all the agenda items, a sufficient quorum. So I can say that this annual general meeting of shareholders of the Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria is quorate on second summons, and we've now got that attendance list, and we know who wishes to take the floor later. But we will subsequently be able to give the final figures later. But first of all, we'll talk about the operational aspects of this meeting. As we've already informed you, we are having a hybrid meeting, such that apart from those who are on-site in the Euskalduna Palace, we've also got shareholders who have regist-...
As their right to information, we'd like to request those shareholders present in Euskalduna Palace, who wish to ask questions in the Q&A, would they please inform the shareholder's desk here and now? It's at the front of the main hall, and the notary will take their name and indicate how they should proceed. Those shareholders who are attending remotely can exercise their right to information, if they haven't already done so, over the telematic attendance portal for this meeting, from the moment when we have finished reading the proposed resolutions further on in this meeting. Likewise, shareholders attending remotely can exercise their right to vote over the same portal, until the panel declares that the AGM is over. All of this is done in line with the indications that have been published in the quarter meeting, on the bank's website, and in the other places mentioned.
If during the AGM, any incident should occur, so that the remote communication channels won't work, you can go directly to the bank website, where you'll get indications of how to exercise your rights in such a case. Thank you for your attendance. Now, the secretary will report to the AGM on the agenda, the resolutions proposed for approval, and the performance with respect to the recommendations of the CNMV's Code of Good Governance. The session's agenda has been published in the quarter meeting, as established in Article 5 of the AGM regulations, so we can deem it to have been read for all due effects. Available to the shareholders from the day on which this meeting was called, are all the proposed resolutions filed by the board with respect to the different agenda items that are being put to the approval of this meeting.
The report from the Board of Directors and from the Appointments and Corporate Governance Committee on the proposals included in item 2 of the agenda, along with the information on the directors whose re-election and appointment is being proposed, and the board report on the proposals for agenda items 3 and 4, as is legally required. Also available to you are the annual financial statements and management reports for the bank and its consolidated group, corresponding to business year 2023, including the corresponding non-financial information statements being presented for approval under agenda item 1.2, along with the EY external auditor reports. You also have available, too, the annual report on corporate governance for 2023, and the annual report on the bank directors' remuneration, which is being put to a consultative vote under agenda item 6. Both of these form part of the management report.
Also available to you are the reports on the acts of the Corporate Enterprises Act. Finally, and with respect to the main issue of bonds, we have made available to the shareholders all the legal reports which have been issued since the last AGM. And now, in line with Article 18 of the AGM regulations, we will give you a summary reading of the proposed resolutions that the board is putting to the AGM. Although we can inform you that the notary already has the full text of these resolutions. In the first agenda item, the Board of Directors is putting to the approval of the AGM its annual accounts and the management reports of the bank and its consolidated group for the year ending the 31st of December 2023.
Also being presented for EUR 3,228 million to the payment of dividends, of which 952 million were settled on the eleventh of October, 2023, as an interim dividend. And then EUR 2,276 million, which will be put into the payment of the final dividend of 2023, which will be paid out on the tenth of April, 2024. The rest of the earnings from the year, which is EUR 1,578 million, will be put into endowing the voluntary reserves of the company. Likewise, we're proposing to this AGM the approval of the non-financial information statements of the bank and its consolidated group for the year ending thirty-first of December, 2023. Their content has been checked by our independent auditors, EY. Under this item, we are also proposing to the AGM, in a separate section, the approval of the Board of Directors management in 2023.
In agenda item two, we are putting to the AGM to vote separately on the following re-election as a member of the Board of Directors, as an independent director of José Miguel Andrés Torrecillas. The re-election, again, as a member of the Board of Directors, and here as an independent director of Jaime Caruana Lacorte, and the re-election as board of the directors, as an external director of Belén Garijo López. The re-election as a member of the Board of Directors, as an independent director of Ana Cristina Peralta Moreno. The re-election as a member of the Board of Directors, as an independent director of Jan Verplancke. The appointment as a member of the Board of Directors, as an independent director of Enrique Casanueva Nardis, and the appointment as a member of the Board of Directors, as an external director of Cristina de Parias Alcón.
All of them for the three-year term established in the bylaws. Now, here I can report that the previous proposals have been adopted by the Board of Directors with a favorable report from the Corporate Governance and Appointment Committee for the re-election of Belén Garijo López, and the proposal of the committee for the re-election and appointment of the independent directors and Señora de Parias. Given that they are in compliance with the legal requirements and the requirements of the bylaws regarding the consideration of independence established in the recruitment process for the director, given that the director has had a past relationship with the bank, she will be considered to be an external director. After that, we'll be determining the number of members of the Board of Directors in line with what has come out from the votes, and you will be informed of this later on.
Under agenda item three, we're proposing the approval of a reduction of the bank's share capital to a maximum amount of 10% of the current share capital to be charged to the freely available reserves. This reduction of capital will take place with the figures determined by the Board of Directors through the redemption of treasury stock, which has been bought by the BBVA with this purpose. The capital reduction may be carried out until the next AGM is held, leaving without effect, insofar as they are not executed, any previous authorizations. Likewise, we're proposing that the Board of Directors should be given powers to carry out this capital reduction, totally or in part, on one or several occasions within the term established in the manner which they deem most advisable.
Finally, we're proposing to revoke, insofar as unused, the resolution adopted by the AGM on the seventeenth of March, 2023, under agenda item 3, to reduce the share capital of the bank. This has been partially executed on two occasions over the previous year for a nominal sum of EUR 94,166,330.16. Agenda item 4 of the agenda proposes the AGM approves the variable remuneration of a group of employees known as risk takers, and that it can be up to 2x the amount of their fixed remuneration, in line with the bank's standards. Under agenda item 5, we're asking the AGM to grant the necessary powers to execute the resolutions adopted, in line with any qualifications put forward by the competent authorities and the Mercantile Registry.
Under the final agenda point, we will have a consultative vote on the annual report on remunerations for BBVA directors, describing the policy applied to 2023 for the members of the Board of Directors, and that established for the current year for the executive directors and the non-executive directors, along with individualized and itemized list of the remunerations in a clear, transparent format, including the information required by the stock market authorities, and with additional details to make it easier to monitor the performance of the entity. Regarding corporate governance, I can say that this year, the bank, in order to improve the information being given to shareholders, has published its Annual Corporate Governance Report in a free format, including broad-ranging explanations of its governance model and how what this means in practice. We hope that this makes it easier for you to understand how it works.
We've also published the statements on the activity of the board committees in 2023. These documents, we think, will help you to better understand the work being done by these very important corporate governance organs over the year. And then, following the recommendations of the CNMV's Code of Good Governance, I can tell you that, yet again, this year, BBVA is in compliance with nearly all of them. Of the 64 recommendations included in the code, the bank is in compliance with 56. Five aren't applicable for various reasons, and there are only three which are only partially in compliance with. First of all, recommendation five, related to the 20% cap on the share capital in the issuance of convertible securities with respect to the preemptive subscription rights.
This limit isn't applicable to the CoCo issuance, and that's why we're not fully in compliance there. Then we have recommendation 42, regarding the Audit Committee's powers to supervise the confidential communication mechanism of any irregularities that come up, for reasons that these powers are in the hands of the Risks and Compliance Board Committee. Then recommendation 52 on the composition of the Supervision and Control Committees, given that we have a Technology and Cybersecurity Committee, which has been set up in order to deal with these things. They have the technical know-how and the support of the board with respect to these cybersecurity and IT risks, and so they have the powers to oversee these matters and to advise the board on them. And that is why, for reasons of clarity, we have brought up this matter in the Annual Corporate Governance Report.
The complete text of the proposed resolutions and the other documents mentioned have been included in the documents which have been made available to you from the time when we called this AGM. Finally, I'd like to remind you that, as we've already told you over different media, we have AINOR Certification for the AGM as a sustainable event, and we are considered to be carbon emission neutral. Many thanks.
I'll now give you the final quorum of the meeting, and having looked at the proxies and the votes, votes issued remotely before the AGM, along with people in personal attendance and attending online, we have here in the hall and attending remotely, 70,960 shareholders, holding 599,248,920 shares, representing EUR 293,631,970.80 of share capital, which is 10.26% of the share capital.
By proxy, we have represented 79,963 shareholders, holding 3,547,869,568 shares, representing EUR 1,738,456,088.32 of share capital, which is 60.77% of that share capital. Which means that between those attending online and on-site, we have 150,923 shareholders with voting rights, holding 4,147,118,488 shares, representing EUR 2,032,088,059.12 of share capital, which is 71.04% of that total share capital.
Now, since we have the notary minuting the proceedings, the notary himself will make the statement established in Article 101.3 of the Mercantile Registry Regulations. I give you the floor, Mr. Notary. For the effects indicated, we hereby ask this AGM whether there are any challenges or protests regarding the statements made on the number of shareholders attending and the capital present at this meeting?
... Should any shareholder here in the hall wish to make any statement of their challenges regarding the number of shareholders attending or the capital present, would they please come to my desk here in the hall, so that I can incorporate their challenge into the minutes of this session? Shareholders who are connected online remotely, can get in communication with me over the specific telematic attendance portal that we have set up for the AGM, so that their challenge can be minuted. Thank you very much, Mr. Notary. Now I will give you my speech.
[Foreign language]
Ladies and gentlemen, shareholders, ..., good morning, and welcome to this general shareholders meeting. Thank you very much for your attendance, not only here today at the Euskalduna Palace in Bilbao, but also online through the portals established. It is an honor for me to stand here before you one more time to go over our management and profits during 2023. One year ago, I stood before this meeting stating my trust that last year would be a good one, despite the challenges we expected to face. Certainly, 2023 was a great year for BBVA, a year of growth and attractive profit, thanks to our franchise, which stand in the first place in our main markets, and also thanks to the commitment of our team moving ahead in strategies, strategic aspects like innovation and sustainability.
This growth and performance have allowed us to create more opportunities for all of our stakeholders, nearly 72 million clients, over 121,000 employees, and for all of you, our nearly 800,000 shareholders. In 2023, we increased our positive impact on all the countries in our footprint. First of all, thanks to our main activity, the granting of loans. Banks play a fundamental role in society by providing a vital service to our clients. We promote economic growth by channeling savings towards productive investment, because our funds are required for investment to take place, and these investments drive productivity, job creation, and economic and social growth. This is the most important contribution banks make to society. And just as an example, I'll give you a point of data.
In the past 40 years, and despite the huge financial crisis that took place more than a decade ago, we estimate that the loans granted by banks in Spain has grown the GDP per capita by over 20%, with positive impact on productivity per man-hour, investment, and private consumption. Last year, BBVA grew the impact of its activity and its positive impact on society. We grew our loan portfolio by 7.6% vis-a-vis the previous year, thus enabling over 140,000 families to buy a home, and helping 550,000 SMEs and self-employed, along with 70,000 large companies, to drive their business forward. And we devoted EUR 15 billion in loans to foster inclusive growth, like financing sustainable infrastructure, supporting entrepreneurship, financial inclusion, or social mortgages. And we have also reached out to an even greater public.
We brought in more than 11 million new clients in the bank at a pace that doubles the one we had five years ago. More than 11 million new clients receiving a vital service for their lives and their business. These numbers of clients and activity make me particularly proud, because the more our activity grows, the more our client base grows, the greater the positive impact we have in the society around us. 2023 was also a very good one for BBVA in financial terms. Thanks to our marvelous team and winning strategy, we got the best performance ever recorded in our history. Attributed benefit of EUR 8.019 billion, or 26% higher than 2022. Thank you.
As you can see, this performance is even more positive in terms of profit per share, which grew by an impressive 32%, driven by our share buyback during the year. It's not just the absolute performance and growth, there is also the profitability indicators, performance, value creation for our shareholders. For one more year, we're a European leader in ROTE, which actually reached 17%, way above the average of our European competitors, which stood at 12%. High yield, along with good behavior of currencies and share buybacks during the year, have led to a growth of 20% of the value per share, considering the paid out dividend. Really exceptional numbers.
Our capability of combining high yield and high wealth with significant growth in activity and performance has been one of the aspects that institutional investors have highlighted the most in our performance presentation in 2023. As we clearly stand head and shoulders above our European competitors on both growth and yield. Our excellent performance during the year gives us the opportunity to reinvest in the business and grow our remuneration to our shareholders. By applying the established dividend policy in the group, we propose to this meeting the payout of over EUR 4 billion, or 50% of the total attributed benefit for the year.
We will do so by paying out a cash dividend of €0.39 per share, which, along with the €0.16 paid out in October, add up to a final total dividend of €0.55, and by the new share buyback program for EUR 781 million, which is already undergoing, and added to the buybacks done in 2023 for EUR 1.422 billion. These programs will contribute to the growth of the dividend per share in the future. a growth in dividends, which, as you can see, has been repeatedly achieved in the past few years. The €0.55 per share dividend in 2023 is nearly 30% higher than the one the previous year, which was already a noticeable increase versus previous years. In absolute terms, numbers are also impressive.
If today's proposal should be approved, in the past three years, we would have paid out, between dividends and share buybacks, an aggregated sum of approximately EUR 13.2 billion, and the buyback programs will have helped us amortize approximately 14% of our shares, with a consequent positive impact for all of you, nearly 0.8 million shareholders. So for all these reasons, growth, yield, wealth accumulation, and growing dividends, as well as share buyback, we continue to be rewarded by the market. Since early 2023, our excellent performance and the dividends collected during the year, as you can see in the eloquent graph, have involved a total return for our shareholders of 95%, more than double the average of our competitors in Spain and our peers in Europe.
The differentiating factor is not just the recent behavior of our shares. If we consider a longer period, since early 2019, we see that BBVA's total return has exceeded 190%. In other words, our shareholders have nearly tripled the value of their shares versus an increase of 74% from our European peers, or 39% in the case of our Spanish peers. Beyond generating profit for both shareholders and clients, our value creation creates a greater positive impact on society, which is made clear by the way we use our earnings. Just to prove that. Beyond this positive impact generated by, directly by our business, which is, as you saw, very relevant, we also support society via our engagement to community or commitment to community.
This commitment involves devoting EUR 550 million between 2021 and 2025, to social initiatives to reduce inequality, create opportunities through education, and support research and culture. At the end of 2023, we had already devoted over EUR 410 million to the above-mentioned program, nearly 75% of the total commitment, with approximately 90 million beneficiaries. Our foundations play a fundamental role in this commitment to community, and they promote inclusion, culture, and knowledge. I should highlight the microfinance BBVA Foundation, supporting nearly 3 million vulnerable entrepreneurs. Only in 2023, the foundation devoted EUR 1.5 million to financing productive projects and activities for these micro entrepreneurs, which are, by the way, mostly women. This foundation, acknowledged several times by the OECD, is a beacon in fostering inclusion and better living conditions across the world.
At the same time, the BBVA Foundation focuses on promoting knowledge and state-of-the-art research, which are vital to the progress of our society, something that we see every year when we grant the prestigious Frontiers of Knowledge Awards. We have further foundation activity, like the BBVA Foundation in Mexico, devoting over EUR 82 million to programs transforming the lives of talented young individuals, allowing them to finish university, perhaps for the first time in the history of their families. There are further volunteer action initiatives, alliances with environmental organizations, or support to nonprofit organizations. After going over our achievements in 2023, I would like to look into the future now. In 2024, we expect the economy to continue to grow, although more moderately than it did in 2023.
Tensions from, the, the Middle East and the Ukraine remain, and inflation has come down, but not as much as central banks had set as an objective. In the financial center, the normalization or standardization of interest rates will help banking activity to continue to grow, and we trust the strength of markets in our footprint. Spain has proven to be a resilient economy, and it is expected to continue to grow well above the average economy in Europe, approximately 2.1%, according to our estimate, versus 0.7% in the Eurozone. It's a slower growth, mainly due to lower demand, the need for tax adjustments, and interest rates that remain relatively high.
But this growth will remain supported by the strong employment rates and consumer rates and more dynamic investments, even despite the expectations for lower interest rates and the deployment of European funds. In Mexico, we expect continued growth of about 2.5%, favored by the enviable strategic position of that country, integrated with EU and Canada and a shared market. Nearshoring is attracting investment and has turned Mexico into the top US business associate, even surpassing China. Turkey stands out because of the important change in geopolitics after last year's elections. There's also the huge potential in South America because of democratic trends and a greater space for higher banking activity. We go from a strong position to use the opportunities in connection to innovation and sustainability, the two key drivers of our strategy.
Our commitment to innovation has been a trademark of BBVA for years, and it places us at the vanguard of the new trends that are deeply transforming the financial industry. We were pioneers in digitalization, which entails a huge competitive advantage. First of all, because our clients benefit enormously from this digitalization. We have provided simple, easy channels for our clients to relate to BBVA whenever and however they prefer. And our clients do use these channels. This year, for the first time, we've gone over the 50 million line of clients operating with us through mobile apps. This number doubles the numbers of 2018. Not only do our clients use our channel, they use it intensively, but and this drives up the frequency of their interactions with the bank, and this has huge value.
The number of transactions has grown by 85% in the past five years. The result is our clients are happier with the services we offer, as shown by our NPS, our Net Promoter Score, which has gone 11 points up in the past five years, and we're now leaders in this indicator in all geographies. So not only are we growing in clients, we're also growing in the digital channel, which plays a key role in our business. Out of our 11 million new clients that came in through 2023, 65% walked in through our digital doors, and we also grow in business numbers. In 2018, the total sales of the group were 57%, whereas this year we can boast 79%.
In sum, digitalization generates a great value for clients, thus leading to quick adoption, greater interaction, and higher satisfaction, as well as greater sales. We were one of the first banks to do the transition into cloud technologies. At present, over 50% of our online transactions are processed through new generation technologies of this kind. We're also building a new public cloud data platform, making use of the new advanced capabilities that technology provides. Another fundamental aspect is our solutions development that are deployable globally, so that solutions created in one country can be reused in another, which brings down deployment time to less than a half. For instance, in our mobile global app, GloMo, over 80% of the software is written or designed globally, and can be reusable in different geographies, thus accelerating the production of new features.
We're also pioneers in the use of advanced data analytics, and certainly pioneers in the use of artificial intelligence, which is already being applied in internal processes for document reading, contract reading, and even for writing code. During 2024, we expect to expand the use of AI, including generative AI, into the bank's app. And consistently with our innovation policy, we created BBVA Technology with the purpose of further accelerating our transformation capability, and we have brought in 3,800 new professionals in the field of data and engineering, including more than 200 professionals here in Bilbao, who have joined the bank during the past year, plus the new 80 employees we expect to bring in this year, 2024. Another highlight in our strategy is sustainability, which continues to gain importance.
You have heard me say repeatedly that decarbonization is the greatest challenge to ever face the humankind, and this will require colossal investment. Much of it, like energy savings measures, are already making economic sense, but it'll also take a lot of investment to develop new technologies to decarbonize activities and industries that do not have an efficient, sustainable alternative. For that reason, decarbonization is an unprecedented opportunity for innovation and entrepreneurship. And just as we were pioneers in investing in fintechs to accelerate our digital transformation, we are already investing in state-of-the-art funds to finance innovation in new clean tech to better advise our clients and generate further growth. Decarbonization is a challenge going over frontiers and industries. All companies will have to have a plan for transition and energy reduction.
As a founding member of the Net Zero Alliance, BBVA is committed to decarbonization targets and has established a roadmap to be carbon emission neutral by 2050. This includes the emissions of the clients we finance. For this purpose, we defined intermediate decarbonization targets for 2030 in the most emission-intensive sectors, like oil and gas, electricity, cars, steel, cement, and coal. During 2023, we added two extra industries, aviation and sea transport. To reach these objectives, we believe the key lies in investment and supporting our clients in their transition plans via advice and funds. Therefore, sustainability is, in our view, at the same time, a big challenge and a big business opportunity, a better business opportunity than we imagined, and a fundamental pillar for growth in the group.
Last year, we channeled over EUR 70 billion in sustainable business, and over 5x the investment that was made 5 years ago. Since 2018, we've mobilized nearly EUR 206 billion to reach the objective of EUR 300 billion until 2025. For all the above reasons, and for the fourth consecutive year, BBVA gets the best score in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index in the banking category in Europe. And to wrap up my speech, as I said, 2020 year has been an outstanding year for the bank, not only because of our performance, but also for the positive impact our activity has had on society. I am certain we will continue to move ahead to overcome these challenges, thanks to our pioneer winning strategy, and thanks to the best team.
None of these achievements would have been possible without the work of over 120,000 employees, whose work I would like to acknowledge. Their effort, their commitment to our values, client comes first, we think big, we are one team, is our main asset. We're proud to be one of the best employers in the world, as witnessed by several acknowledgments globally, like Gallup, Forbes, Time, or Fortune. This goes to show that each and every one of us give the best of ourselves every single day to make our project, our purpose, come true, and make the opportunities of the new era available to all. So thank you once more for your trust during this year. With your support, we will continue to grow positively in 2024, with greater positive impact and creating opportunities for all. Eskerrik asko! Thank you very much.
[Foreign language]
Thank you. I now give the floor to our CEO, Onur Genç.
Many thanks, Mr. Chairman. Egun on, enori . [Foreign language] . Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. As always, it's a pleasure to be here, to be with all of you. Today, first of all, I'd like to add a bit more color to our earnings for 2023, and secondly, I want to highlight the strong points of the bank as we look ahead to the future. As the chairman's already said, in 2023, we reached the highest attributable profit in our history, EUR 8.019 billion.
But quite apart from the excellent performance last year, I'd also like to underline this growing tendency, this growing tendency we're seeing as our core earnings go up, because apart from 2020, which was hit by COVID, every year over the last 10 years, and especially in the last 3 years, we've managed to improve our profit, to make it go up each year. In 2023, we tripled the profit we reported 10 years ago, which was nearly 70% more than it was 5 years ago. Now, these numbers are even more impressive if you look at our share price. Because of the buyback programs we've had, our excellent performance is outstanding compared to that of our peers, so that we are leaders in the European banking industry in terms of business volumes, returns, and efficiency.
As you can see on the left of this slide, we have made our business grow, increasing our loan book by 7.6% in constant euros and 5.5% in current euros, whereas the average for our European peers has been a reduction in business volumes over the year. This growth was achieved, moreover, in a profitable, efficient manner. We obtained a return on tangible book value of 17%, which compares against the 12.4% of our peers. And our efficiency has improved. That is measured as a ratio, which is cost divided by revenues, and it's 42%, which is significantly better than the 54% being reported by our peers.
And going a little bit further, going beyond the averages that I showed you in the previous page, if we look at our European peers individually, this slide shows graphically on two axes their growth and their returns as the 14 biggest banks of Europe. The higher up and the more to the right on this graph, the better, obviously. Now, you can see clearly on this page what an outstanding position we've achieved. Thanks to the success of our strategy, we've managed to grow our loan book significantly with one of the best return ratios, creating a unique profile here in Europe, in which we're combining growth and returns at the same time. It's also important to point out that our growth is healthy, enabling us to maintain the right kind of risk profile.
Our NPL ratio stands at 3.4% still, our coverage ratio is 77%, and our cost of risk is 115 basis points. Our earnings group-wide are the outcome of an excellent performance, which has been consistent across the different countries within our footprint. In Spain, our profit went up to EUR 2,755 million, which is 65% more than the previous year. In Mexico, our profit was EUR 5,340 million, which is a growth of 17%. In Turkey, we obtained attributable profit of EUR 528 million, which is a growth of 5%. Five percent more in a very complex macroeconomic environment.
Finally, in the countries of South America, our attributable profit was EUR 613 million, which is lower than the previous year because of the difficult macroeconomic environment in the region, and above all, the impact of hyperinflationary accounting standards in Argentina, following the sharp devaluation of the peso in 2023. Not only have we reported excellent earnings in all our main markets, but we've also outperformed our peers across the board. Yes, everywhere. As you can see on this page, we've managed in 2023 to grow and to grow faster and better than our peers, gaining market share in lending in all countries. On Page 34, you can see we've got 34 basis points in Spain in growth, which maintains the positive trend we've been reporting for the last few years.
Likewise, in every country, yet again, without exception, we are more profitable than our local peers. As I said last year, we are firmly convinced that for each country, for each business, and for everyone in the group, it's important to benchmark our earnings against those of our peers. Okay, we've got a lot of work yet to do, and we can't rest on our laurels. Our competitors are very strong in all the markets where we're operating. But as you've seen, what we've been doing, compared to what our competitors have been doing, makes us really exceptional.
Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, 2023, well, 2021-2023 have been good years. 2023 was an especially good year, and we think that 2024 will be even better.
Underpinned by innovation and sustainability, we are steadfastly committed to creating value for all of you. We're expecting our attributable profit in 2024 will be growing, which will make it possible for us to improve our cost-income ratio by more than 17% and keep the cost-income ratio- Sorry, our returns will be improving 17%, and our cost-income ratio will remain below 42%. So we're expecting to beat all the targets set in our Investor Day during this year, 2024. So let's give you a few key points so you can understand why we're so upbeat about our future. As I've already mentioned, one of the pillars of our growth strategy is bringing new customers, new clients. That, in our opinion, is the best and the most healthy strategy for growth that a bank can have.
Here, you can see how last year we've managed to increase our number of target customers in all the different segments of our business. So the number of retail customers has gone up 6.2%. The number of SME customers has gone up by nearly 8%, and in enterprise banking, the number of clients has gone up by 3.2%. Looking ahead to the future, with a larger customer base, we'll continue to roll out our winning strategy in innovation and digitization, which will enable us to give a better service to everyone. Our mobile app is getting better every single day, day in, day out, becoming one of the most important touch points for interaction with our customers, which has enabled us to increase our customer satisfaction, facilitating digital sales and the attraction of new clients.
As in digitization, sustainability is also a key part of our strategy, representing a great opportunity to grow, as the chairman explained. This year, we've seen very significant growth in the mobilization of sustainable business in all the countries in our footprint and in all the different segments. In the retail segment, for example, growth was 43%, whereas in enterprise and corporate banking, we've reached growth figures of 99% and 20%, respectively. As the chairman said, these successes wouldn't have been possible without our really strong point, our greatest asset, our team. We're always talking about technology, digitization, and other things relating to our strategy, but we are very aware, very aware, as I always say, that our business is a people-based business. We're talking about people giving a service to people.
The great bank that we are and the excellent results that we're presenting today are the outcome of the hard work of more than 120,000 employees who are part and parcel of BBVA. Something that makes me feel especially proud is the constant progress we're seeing in the engagement of our employees, as you can see on the right-hand side of this page. This year, too, we are seeing an improvement there. In BBVA, having a world-class team, a diverse, more committed team, is a strategic priority, and we are working towards that end all the time.
Before finishing, I'd like to thank you this year, too, for depositing your trust in us, and you should have no doubt whatsoever that we will continue working to create value for all of you, to become and to go on being the best bank, driven by our purpose of bringing the age of opportunity to everyone. Many thanks for your attention. Eskerrik asko....
Now we'll open the floor for the shareholders who wish to exercise their right to information. So the secretary will inform you of the procedural details of the Q&A. To facilitate the interventions of those shareholders that wish to exercise their right to information who are here in the hall, would you please go to the shareholders desk and indicate your intention to speak with your name and the number of shares that you hold or represent?
Any shareholder in the hall wishes to have the literal text of their intervention minuted. I remind you that, as established in Article 18 of the AGM regulations, before speaking, would you give the written document to the notary so that he can check it against what you say in order to minute it. The order of interventions will be established by the AGM presidency, and you will be called in when it is your turn to speak if you just said your name beforehand. For the smooth running of this AGM, it's important that you should keep the focus of your interventions on business of this AGM and not bring up matters outside such business.
In order to facilitate the smooth running of the AGM, there will be one single opportunity to take the floor for each person, regardless of the number of proxies they might have or the number of shares that they might hold. Likewise, so that all shareholders who so wish can exercise their right to information, please try to ensure that you don't speak for more than the strictly necessary time to cover the matters you're bringing up, and please never speak for more than five minutes. Once the Q&A has finished and the people here in the hall have finished speaking, we will then read the interventions that have been submitted time and form by those attending remotely, after which we will answer the questions brought up in the exercise of the right to information.
If it's not possible to answer any of the questions during the meeting, the shareholder who has asked the question will be given the information in the seven days following the end of the AGM, as established in the AGM regulations and the articles of the Corporate Enterprises Act. Many thanks. Right now, before we start the Q&A, we're going to put up a video so that the representatives of the organizations that got the special awards from last years are able to explain what they have used those funds for.
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Ladies, gentlemen, shareholders, as you saw in this video, your contributions have had a direct, highly positive impact on vulnerable individuals and organizations that play a fundamental social role. So thank you very much for that contribution. Let us move on now to questions. We will wait for the first question to come in. The floor goes to Paola Torrico Portero. Ms. Torrico? Egun on.
[Foreign language] , Good day, Mr. Chairman, Mr. CEO. Dear shareholders, my name is Paola Torrico, Secretary General of Comisiones Obreras in BBVA, and I'm speaking here on behalf of the shares delegated to me. Today, delegates from Comisiones Obreras made a demonstration at the gates of this very venue, representing workers in the financial industry, to claim a fair collective agreement.
BBVA, once more, we have record performance in 2023, and still, for yet another year, the BBVA executives decided to leave their employees out of the profits we are genuinely entitled to. Mr. Chair, your salary is 177 x that of your staff. You're one of the best-paid individuals in Spain, and yet in BBVA, most of your employees have had their salaries frozen for years. I mean, all those workers rewarded with a personal complement that looks like an incentive, but is ultimately just part of the collective agreement, and becomes an annual frustration when you realize your salary is a trick and cannot be revalued.
Your staff, the main actor of the profits you're celebrating today, that have led to an increase to your risk takers of over 200%, does not by any means represent the results reaped by your workers. Plus, the toxic environment generated by excessive work burden based on an absurd commercial or business model, because certainly, Mr. Chair, rankings are still being used to pressure employees into productiveness. The environment where we work negatively affects our health and deteriorates our performance, thus creating an unmotivating, tense, and stressing working environment that cannot be solved by a mental health portal, as I have said numerous times. So do not administer pills to treat the symptoms, and heal the disease at once. We are sick and tired of hypocrisy and tired of this sickening working model.
You talk about social corporate responsibility and apply it to your own staff. In the past five years, Mr. Chair, absenteeism for professionally related diseases has grown by 35%, and we are 30% above other entities in the financial system. It doesn't feel like anything to celebrate. We are the bank that generates most diseases among their staff. Nor do I think we should celebrate the negative social impact generated by your policy with our staff in Colombia. More than 250 employees were fired since February this year, using coercion methods, as pointed out by the ACEB trade union and brought to the Ministry of Labor in Colombia, which goes to show how seriously you take your social corporate responsibility.
It is urgent to address the situation in BBVA by providing greater budget for the staff and enough budget for replacement vacancies. The generational gap in BBVA needs to be corrected by a succession agreement that will include dignified exit solutions for your senior employees. Here's another number: in 15 years, 70% of your staff will have retired. In 20 years, almost 100%. So based on your commitment to sustainability and the reduction of carbon footprint, we need to extend these criteria to the entire staff by providing displaced employees employment closer to home to lead to a better environment. As a reference company, BBVA should foster fair contract and measures to enhance the working climate. That would truly be a service to that staff you appear to be so cognizant of. Mr.
Chairman, please listen to our plea as representatives of your staff and as spokesmen for analysts, and seek a better treatment for your own employees. Getting better profits, resting on the health of your own employees is unethical. You can do better, and we are here to remind you that you can. We request that this question or comment remain on record. Thank you very much. Well, thank you very much, Ms. Torrico. Next, we will hear Francisco Javier Rojano Aguirre. Mr. Rojano? Mr. Chairman, Mr. CEO, shareholders, Egun on, good day.
My name is Francisco Javier Rojano, Secretary General for UGT in BBVA, and I'm addressing you on behalf of the shares I've been delegated on to present the concerns of your own staff.
Today, you're posting record profits, which should be a reason for celebration and reward for everyone in BBVA. You know, that one team value you cherish so much. Well, I do understand that you at the top are one team, but I would like to tell you about the rest of the team, your staff. So this slogan that we have heard so much does not reflect the treatment given to employees. This extraordinary profit comes from the effort and professionalism of your employees, and we deserve economic rewards at the same level of the contribution we make. We would be happy with the same recognition you get, you know, the one team spirit. Remember that as the captain to set the course, but the crew actually brings the ship to port.
You will probably answer that with the increase of variable remuneration this year, the problem will be solved and everyone will be happy. But I'm sad to inform that the increase on zero is zero, and for others, it's a mere anecdote. I am here to tell you that to just be happy with a Groupon coupon for UV tech hands. It's time to walk the talk, Mr. Chairman. Your staff deserves it. At present, we're negotiating the collective agreement, and the numbers you have put on the table show nothing but contempt for our work. The calling of a strike for the 22nd this month is more fair than ever, and we only claim gaining back our purchasing power and having the recognition you claim so much in our collective bargain agreement. Mr. Chairman, in BBVA is a champion at this.
You really have a passion to compensate or absorb anything that will improve the lives of your employees. You will tell me that you're legally compliant, but I honestly feel envious when other smaller entities in the same sector do not apply the same criteria to their staff. That really is a passion for people, Mr. Chairman. And also, your business model, rather than helping us in our day-to-day, makes us waste time in reaching commitments, justifying non-compliance, and the model has become not a means, but an end in and of itself. When we switch on our computers in the morning, we're switching off the world, and only the ranking remains.
A succession of emails, phone calls, and while we try to put out a hundred fires every day, the phone is still ringing, and on the other end, our bosses, unhappy with their position in the ranking, starts firing questions: "What are you doing? What are you making of your time?" And the right answer to this question would be, "I am working. Are you?" So, Mr. Chairman, my sole request, and it won't cost you a dime, a dime, is the following: let us work. Notice how little our request is. If you, if you can, Tell us, if all you can do is ask what we have been doing during the day, you will agree that this is not the best working model. As in previous year, we denounced the unsustainable burden and pressure placed on our coworkers in the branch network.
There's less and less room for sales and cross sales, and yet we keep getting captains trying to steer the boat towards an unreachable port. I wish you would come down from your office to realize that your Excel spreadsheets have nothing to do with the reality of your workers. Actually, rather than passion for people, it's pressure for people. So, Mr. Chairman, I urge you to take care of your most valuable asset, your employees. That sense, that pride of belonging, is being diluted, and your motto of one team grows constantly more distant from reality. Thank you. Well, and thank you, Mr. Rojano. The word goes to Mr. Luis María Urreta Benjuria. Luis María?
Good morning. [Foreign language] , Mr. Chairman, members of the board, BBVA staff, and shareholders. I'm Luis María Urreta Benjuria. I'm the Secretary General of the Confederación General de Trabajo, CGT, here in BBVA, and I'm speaking on behalf of nearly 2 million shares for which I have a proxy. I want to start by thanking the many shareholders who have deposited their trust in us and understood what... BBVA, and you've taken advantage of that yet again as the chairman and CEO, to praise the staff of BBVA, highlighting that we are one of the key assets in generating that earning. So we congratulate you for that. Without a doubt, yes, you have a fantastic management team. This is the home we share. It's your home, and it's the home of all of your staff.
And that's why we'd like to remind you that the earnings have to be shared out between those who generate them, which is the management team and the staff. It's not possible just to give a premium to the mutual funds and the shareholders, who, of course, are important, and the management team. It's also fundamental that those who are generating wealth in the company should have a right to have that reflected in their wage. I mean, we're not asking for charity or alms, just what we are entitled to, reflecting the real hard work done in order to achieve these results. The staff in BBVA, for more than 15 years, have had our wages frozen. Year in, year out, raises are offset by the absorption of various other items, which means that we suffer a loss of more than 15% in our purchasing power because of inflation.
Thus, we'd like to publicly ask you to be good enough to make a commitment with the workers' representatives to come to an agreement facilitating the non-application of articles 5 and 23 of the collective agreement in such a way that once and for all, we'll stop having all this absorption of any increases in the wages, to stop the wages being frozen. It's not just giving higher salaries to the management. Would the shareholders be happy not to get a dividend because the share price has gone up in the market? I mean, here, in this forum, you can think you can have a 200% increase in your remuneration. Couldn't you double the help to families of staffs, the contributions to pension funds and the other contributions, which, because of inflation, are now completely out of date?
Now, that would really show what passion you have for people, so that it wouldn't just be empty words that you're spouting as part of your talent and culture drive. Taking advantage of this AGM, we'd like to express our enormous concern about the situation of the BBVA staff in the branch network, where you have minimum staffing levels, you're not covering vacancies, and there are more and more vacancies, precisely because of the anxiety triggered by the precarious nature of employment. You're not substituting people when they're on leave or on holiday. So everybody is overwhelmed by their workload, and that means that we're always getting complaints from customers about lack of proper attention and increasing verbal and physical aggression against our staff. Now, a great bank like this should be treating its clients differently. We denounce the enormous pressure on people working in the branches.
Managers just forget about due form because all they think about is hitting their targets, filling out the spreadsheets, which are really redundant. You have the best staff in the finance industry. Look at the earnings for the year. They reflect the engagement of your BBVA staff. Without a doubt, your methods, they're not really necessary, are they? We're beating records year in, year out, and we're worried that new hires are coming in with really bad conditions, and then they leave very soon because they have to work so hard, and they're not getting the right kind of training that they need to live up to the kind of job they're expected to do. Take into account the way that people are getting rid of more senior staff simply because they are being paid more and should be paid more.
Now, as employees, we don't feel that you're really valuing our hard work. If you look at the Gallup results, all of us know that the answers that they're getting are coming out of pressure being placed on the contestants. Would you please finish? Your time's up. Technology has been a way of improving profits, and BBVA has been on the cutting edge in this sector. Artificial intelligence is opening up new horizons to make the bank more efficient. So to everyone here present in the hall, we employees expect that we should share the earnings that we're contributing day in, day out, to get better social well-being and substantially improve the kind of environment that we work in and that we live in. Please, Mr. Shareholder, would you end? Yes, I will. The staff has demonstrated that it knows how to work well, so stop cutting our wages.
We are part and parcel of BBVA's success. Now, please show that you believe in your staff, in our success, our achievements, and what we are worthy of. Thank you very much, Mr. Urreta. We give the floor to Mr. Valentín Ramírez.
Is this yours? Yeah. Good day, everyone. On the occasion of the shareholders meeting, I sent two certified messages to the chairman, which he has not had the kindness to respond to or even mention. These certified messages dealt with two aspects: BBVA's investment in Telefónica, where I urged them to tell us what BBVA intends to do with that investment. I included a brief description of the situation in Telefónica. I requested a short appointment with the chairman and the head of Telefónica, with no reply. The second matter, or the matter of the second message, was even more serious. The Terra Telefónica phony merger is way behind us in the past. The chairman of Telefónica, José Miguel Andrés Torrecillas, went into an audit of Telefónica back in 2005.
And the company, Terra, was included in that audit, acquired by merger, in which BBVA and Telefónica were clearly involved. It was a phony merger against the, the Terra shareholders. Many shareholders present here must have bought Terra shares at the time, as per instructions of BBVA, who acted as brokers for that deal. I believe that many explanations are due to those shareholders. Back then, you were not even the chairman. It was back in the day of Mr. González. Well, we all know what happened to that character. So to the present chairman, I sent a message stating that all the Terra shareholders which had their shares traded for Telefónica shares should be entitled to an average of 11 million shares. Up until now, EUR 96 million, or those would be worth EUR 96 million today.
At that time, an agreement was considered possible, and I was told that I had to deliver all the documentation, which I obviously refused. You must remember how this business ended up, Mr. Chairman. New facts have come to light, and that has brought the price of shares to EUR 11.11. We have heard about your excellent earnings and fees and coming from loans, but nobody says anything about wealth management in the bank. What kind of wealth management is this, considering the Terra case, which was an actual hoax with the participation of BBVA? How do you justify what you did to those investors who trusted BBVA? That's my question. I will supply the notary public with the two certified messages I sent, and I am sure that all this dirty past will have to eventually come to light.
There is an ongoing legal action, and remember that all these law cases indicate that Spain is not a safe place for investment. So we know, we know who rules in Spain. We know who runs the show, and small investors, well, all we can do is pay taxes and get mediocre salaries, while the ones at the top reap the benefits of your investment. But, Mr. Torres, what happens to Terra shareholders, the ones who had their shares mediated by BBVA? Would you kindly explain that to us? That's all I ask. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramírez. The word goes to Aitor Garayo.
Good morning. [Foreign language] . You've had my name. I'm speaking on behalf of ELA, which is a Basque trade union. As the colleague said, we are now bargaining to get the collective agreement on the 29th of February for the first time since 1983. We've got a milestone, going to strike to defend the real bargaining behind the agreement. Without going ahead with acronyms and slogans, we had a successful strike, and the bargaining team understood that we can show how we can put a stop to what's going on in the sector, just as well as people driving ambulances and tractors can. And really, it made the banking employers understand that we have just been losing rights in the industry and losing purchasing power as workers.
ELA, haven't come to the AGM to just get a sterile snapshot of what we're doing, showing falsely how things are, to show off that we've said harsh words during the bargaining, but we couldn't do anything more. But it's no good just signing off the bargaining, as has happened in the past, with wages going up between 11%-14%, with the employers accepting it's for the industry. No, and on the 22nd, you can't give us sweets to stop us holding the strike. There are certain minimums that have to be accepted by all of the members of our trade unions. We can't lose purchasing power anymore. We estimate we've lost 15% over the last few years. We need to really increase wages in line with inflation, like pensions are.
The non-application of the absorption and compensation clause is demanded, and we don't want to include the mobility minimum. It must be at 25 kilometers at the most. Changing tack, in this AGM, we want you to understand a systemic issue relating to active listening in the company. When the union reps put forward logical ideas, it's normal to, for people to take time and to think, "Is that a reasonable thing to say?" Not just to come back with a snap reaction. With all the different trade unions, we had a meeting with Carlos Casas a little while ago, with various other members of his team. We asked for a solution for the refectories here in Bilbao and in Donostia, and corrected an erroneous translation of some slogans in the branch offices in the Basque Country.
Now, these seemed to be problems that couldn't be solved, a whole lot of unsubstantiated excuses, but with this meeting, because of the proactive attitude taken, it turns out we can solve them within a month. So thank you. Finally, you're able to resolve these problems working with us. So along similar lines, now, we've got other problems that we think need to be dealt with. Too much testosterone has been the problem so far. Getting rid of the plastic protective barriers with the public, which actually the tellers were grateful for, and they'd like to keep them. And the, we have a lot of people who have signed the request to not have them removed, but we've just been told, "No!" Just out and out, "No." How come?
Because, well, the people at the top have said, "Why not get rid of them?" But it would be really easy to make our life better if we were able to keep those screens. And then finally, something which is really an injustice is the situation of the Contigo workers. It's the only department in commercial banking that's working in the evenings in July, and in Bancomer, the different call centers have completely different standards. And people working in Contigo, the Contigo Call Center, really need you to come up with a decent solution. Thank you very much.
I now give the floor to María del Carmen García González.
[Foreign language] . Good day, shareholders, ladies and gentlemen, Board of Directors, Mr. Genç, Mr. Torres. "Buongiorno, egun on." My name is Carmen García, and I'm part of CIG, the first trade union in BBVA in Galicia, and the most representative union in my area. I'm here with a clear mandate of your employees to let you know those things you cannot or will not listen to in these very short five minutes. On February 29th, the employees in Galicia massively closed the doors of trade unions to express their tiredness. You can tell us that we closed our branches to express our discomfort with the agreement, with the collective agreement. But actually, you should know the reasons why we went on strike that day and shut down your branches.
In a survey conducted a few months ago, our coworkers were very clear: they want remuneration reflecting their hard work and the years of inflation that have, not been acknowledged so far. This comes particularly from workers in the Contigo call centers. Your employees do not want the crumbs from your huge profit table. They want, regular treatment rather than compensating and cheering for every tiny increase. They don't want their position weakened. They don't want to be forced into working 50 kilometers from home. Your employees were also clear about the labor conditions they want to have that will rather help than hinder their health. The high number of long-term, work leaves is proof to this stress. Your workers cannot keep taking a daily pill so that they can work harder or sleep better. BBVA claims to offer psychological attention for employees and their families.
Well, no, thank you. That is not the way. That's not the right path. Obviously, it is not your fault, right? You can afford a reorganization based on bullying employees. It's a take it or leave it situation, and ultimately, it is portrayed as a voluntary negotiation. And of course, when our backs are to the wall, we pick the lesser of two evils. You have dismantled your branch network, and the decision is do or die. Follow the model or deal with clients, because both things cannot be done at the same time. You claim that you want to make technology available to all, while you've actually succeeded in doing the opposite.
You're putting your employees at the service of technology, and you have abandoned your clients into a factory model, thus keeping those clients who are forced into digital channels to not get the service they deserve. The redressing of working centers is not a luxury. It's about our health, Mr. Torres, and we understand that it's complicated when newly hired employees work for a salary barely above the bare minimum, who have to spend entire days justifying what they do. No wonder many of your employees are seeking newer and greener horizons. You talk about work-life balance. This cannot be reached with these long working days and with these objections to better conditions. Women in BBVA demand both equality and remuneration transparency, whereas you insist on facilitating such complicated data that it is impossible to quantify the existing salary gap in BBVA.
When so much is done to keeping things concealed, we fear that the gap must be equally serious. In Galicia, we're well aware of this situation of women and the situation of rankings, which you claim no longer exists, and excessive demands, requesting two core sales a day, both at call centers and in the network, as if they were the same thing. Your employees have suffered so much than... Rather than growing a thicker skin, we have developed a hypersensitivity to your lack of empathy. Not anything goes in the business world, and you have heard our response with a total strike from different levels of your organization employees. This is not our doing, it is yours. Thank you very much, and have a good day. Thank you, Ms. García. Next, Luis del Rivero Asensio.
[Foreign language] . Mr. Chairman, Mr. CEO, directors, shareholders-
...Good morning. First of all, I'd like to say that it seems to me that 2023 has been a year of enormous success. Enormous success. Earnings have been quite spectacular, not just in terms of beating records, in terms of amounts, the value of the shares, and the share price has gone up to a figure that when we were obliged to sell on the 16th of February, 2005, 19 years ago, they've gone back to that figure after 19 years. Okay, then. I think, it's only fair to recognize that and congratulate you on it. And some of the funds, I think... Well, someone said that these earnings coming from Mexico and Turkey as well, and Inditex has just reported their results. And these two countries are very important.
I mean, they have their problems, but they are very important, one in the Spanish-speaking world and the other, on the gateway into Europe. But Inditex is the 3rd biggest, country in, 3rd biggest company in Mexico and the 5th in Turkey. But now, in this important time, there's still clouds looming on the horizon regarding the criminal liability of the bank, namely because of what we call the Tandem or Villarejo affair. Now, it's so important that over the last 19 years, whenever there's been a, well, a fact or a change in the senior management, it's always been related to that. Let's remember the September 19th , when we heard from Mr. Goirigolzarri, that at the age of 55 years, after having been put in, after the hiring of Cenyt was made known, and Mister-- So he left, and Mr.
Cano came in, and it turned out that Mr. Cano also covered things, that he'd covered things up. Well, the recovery of certain non-payments went through the Kroll agency. When substituted by Cenyt, Mr. Goirigolzarri resigned, charging 10 years at EUR 4 million a year until he was 65 and then EUR 55 million. Now, his bravery is shown by the fact that he's now the chair of one of the leading banks in the country. Likewise, on the fourth of May, 2015, after the publication of Mr. Ayuso's involvement in El País, we saw the exit of Mr. Cano as CEO, and he got EUR 50 million compensation when it was quite evident what was going on.
In September 2018, the chairman, Francisco González, announced that at the end of the year, he would be leaving his position, and that would lead to the appointment of Mr. Carlos Torres as chairman, which he now is. I think that all goes to show what was going on. Well, now, the affair is continuing. The case is about to end the procedural stage and will be ready for a hearing. So it's a really important moment. We might think that the legislation for 2015, I mean, there were certain mitigating factors for certain legal persons with respect to their criminal liability, but that's gonna be difficult to get now.
And the legislation of 2010 did have mitigating factors, which were basically to repair damage, to work hand in hand with justice, and okay, taking due measures, it's pretty clear, you're to avoid the renewal of directors who were directly involved any way for the bank or on the other side of things, either, like the ex-governor of the board of the Bank of Spain, who's now a director. And then we look at the ... Because now we can analyze all the hits, and there are two universes, one with 2.3 million hits and the other with 4 million hits. Now, the bank has tried to stick to the 2.3, and they've really dragged their feet on it.
It'll be a fantastic opportunity for the bank to show to justice that they're willing to make available those 4 million hits, so that would expedite real working closely with justice to get fairness to prevail. I'd like to say that finally, at the end of the day, lawyers like to carry out the orders of their client. Here, the client is the bank, not the people who used to be in the bank. And so I'd like to congratulate you for your success in 2023. Many thanks. Thank you. I now give the floor to Jorge Alejandro Aranda Bernal.
Good afternoon. [Foreign language] . Good day, Mr. Chairman, Mr. CEO, directors, shareholders, coworkers. My name is Jorge Alejandro Aranda Bernal, chairman of ACB, the top trade union in BBVA, independent and active, aiming for trade union action to achieve the best possible agreements for workers. I am here representing over 30% of the BBVA staff in Spain, and the shareholders who delegated their proxy on us. Mr. Chairman, according to the information at our disposal, we extend our congratulations to you for the extraordinary profits achieved by BBVA in 2023. All of it, thanks to your main asset, your employees. Within the framework of social corporate responsibility, BBVA stands out as a world example in environmental and governance aspects.
In the social aspects, we should focus on your workers, too, as the sustainability of business performance, particularly in the technological and financial area, should rest on the well-being and satisfaction of their workers. At present, we are currently negotiating the 25th banking convention in the midst of an inflation context that continues to create huge losses in your employees' purchasing power. Beyond that, the situation is worsened by maintaining Article 5 on the collective bargaining agreement, which compensates and absorbs the salary raises of more than 25% of your employees, which causes great harm to the purchasing power of your employees and potentiates a reduction of labor literacy. We urge you to reflect those earnings in your main asset, your staff, so that they can recover the purchasing power they have lost.
At the same time, we understand that this will lead to better talent retention and, and a team that is more satisfied and engaged. Since 2021, there are situations you still need to correct, like the reduction of branch offices, a decrease of the employee-to-client ratio, with the subsequent losses in service quality and overburden of your employees. An increase in the number of displaced workers, with the subsequent personal cost that they have to endure. At present, we observe that the existing management tools tend to become controlling tools, with minute-by-minute pressure, with applying growing pressure and anxiety to workers, leading to demotivation. The reputation or the friction that banks generate in society is suffered directly by your clients. Only last year, the number of aggressions to your employees just doubled.
All this friction is harming the health of BBVA workers, turning psychosocial risk into a key matter in an unsustainable situation. In ACB, we understand that it is required to foster policies to conciliate personal and professional life. The signing of the present equality plan in BBVA is certainly a big step ahead, but we need to keep fostering other measures to address co-responsibility and work-life balance in the group. I think we should also manage the return of displaced employees to their original positions, and also provide jobs closer to home to newly acquired employees. We continue to support remote work, the telework, particularly for those who enjoy it the most, as it would lead to great benefits, not only to your employees, but also to your bank in terms of working climate and sustainability.
This calls for an agreement with the legal representatives of workers. Ultimately, and as usual, Mr. Chairman, we ask that you take our requests into account. These are the requests of everyone we represent. Thank you very much. And thank you, Mr. Aranda. The floor goes to Noemí Massagué Comas.
Good day. My name is Noemí Massagué Comas, secretary general of SEC and top union representative in Catalonia. Every year, when I prepare for this meeting, it feels like Groundhog Day, because everything looks the same or worse every year. And when I hear other colleagues from other unions, it feels so repetitive. We're all saying the same things, and that's probably for a reason. We already deal with labor issues, with the people department, and with health and prevention departments, but we have a serious problem.
Your staff are growing literally sick as a consequence of stress and working overburden. And we know that the present agreement under discussion, it barely covers the absolute minimum and even takes steps back in labor conditions that further stresses your staff. Employees that are now engaged but undergoing serious health issues. At this pace, that engagement and commitment you boast of in your presentations is likely to dwindle. So how do you think you will achieve your objectives and your massive profits if your employees are not recorded, rewarded, or acknowledged? Business pressure is verging on harassment. Why are there so many people to control employees that do not generate any productiveness? Your structure is actually stressing. Variable remuneration for these drivers is based on what employees do under their command, the ones doing the real work to achieve bank objectives.
Those who do not see their efforts rewarded, all they see is how top executives are disproportionately remunerated. So all we demand is a fair distribution of these profits. We expect the unfair distribution to end and these absorptions and postponements to end. In an interview to you, Mr. Chairman, early this year, you celebrate your performance in 2023, and you announce that 2024 will also be a great year for BBVA. We see dividends growing year after year, a highly motivating message, if not for the fact that your employees are vastly forgotten and overlooked. You also say that you want to make use of data and new technologies like AI to advise your clients, but do not forget about human and emotional intelligence in your dealings with your workers. According to you, Mr.
Chair, we, as workers, are a winning team, but we still wonder, what are we winning here? We are sick of surveys that provide biased results, as we know that all these surveys are biased. The yearly report on BBVA directors' remuneration for 2023 is an affront because your staff have had their salaries frozen, and any increases are absorbed. Our food coupon is EUR 11. Contributions to pension plans remain under the minimum. Kilometers are still frozen, support for disabled children are frozen, and also is variable remuneration. And as for sustainability, that's another hypocrisy we witness in this bank. If you're envisaging an emission-free future, you need to seriously consider having part of your staff working hundreds of miles from home with no further option or return plan for these employees. That's neither sustainable nor reconcilable with personal life.
As you said it yourself in this interview, we don't need to reinvent the wheel. The solution is in your hands. We, we are past or beneath public acknowledgment if we do not feel well acknowledged at work. So forget about smoke and mirrors and start remembering we are your main asset. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Aranda. The word goes to Paulino García-Toraño Martínez.
Señor Presidente. Mr. Chairman, I'm Paulino García-Toraño Martínez, and I'm a shareholder of the bank. I'm speaking on behalf of the association Uniter, which is also a shareholder, and 190 shareholders in BBVA, who have given us their proxy for 1.9 million shares. Mr. Chairman, directors, over the last five years, we have requested the approval of the governing board of the entity, and we think we have to continue with that. So we don't think there should be any renewal for... Excuse me. Let me hold it for you. We had this happen last year, so don't, don't worry. I can-- I'm not worrying. I'm just... Okay, I'll hold it for you. Okay.
I was just saying that we do understand that, in our judgment, you shouldn't renew the positions of those who had management responsibilities when the events occurred, which are currently looming over the horizon of the bank. If we knew that the clouds were clearing, we would feel happier. We think that the bank should be more proactive, working with the justice administration. The never-ending story with the heads, which we just heard the previous shareholder speak about, does seem to be coming to a possible end, but we do hope that we will cease to have to read about these things in the banner headlines of the papers. So here we'd like to state our opposition to the re-election of the directors proposed in points 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 4, and 5 of the proposed resolutions in the agenda item 2.
Having said that, we think that it's absolutely fair to recognize that 2023 has been a very good year, looking at the bottom line, and that's why we have to congratulate all those who've made it possible. Starting with you, Mr. Chairman, but going down to the most modest employee of the bank. BBVA has made more than EUR 8 billion in 2023, 26.1% more than a year ago, and has done so in a way that's affected all the different lines of the account. So we can reiterate our congratulations to all those who've made that possible. And we do hope we'll be able to say the same in forthcoming years. These numbers are important. They reflect excellent performance and excellent management.
However, for us as members of Unitel, who I'm representing here, who wish to be long-term investors, there are certain features of the group strategy that I would like to highlight that we don't fully agree with. BBVA's success is based on two strategies. The first one is, and this goes back to the 1990s, due to the management team of the time in which they wanted to expand our activity, doing what we already knew how to do well in other markets, however. Basically, looking to Latin America, the final outcome has definitely been successful, 'cause now we can see that in 2023, Mexico brought in 67% of the attributable profit, and the rest of Latin America, and another 8%. Consequently, 74% of our earnings come from that region, and so it's important, we think, to recognize that position.
But it entails serious geopolitical risks that we think need to be corrected in the future, trying to find a better equilibrium. And there, Mr. Chairman, we haven't heard you coming up with any proposals so far. Turkey is a market with a lot of problems, the unbridled inflation and economic uncertainty, and it's way below that 5.5% in the attributable earnings. And thank you. And I think we really have to be concerned about that. More than 70% of the BBVA earnings in 2023 have been obtained from countries that combine certain features, geopolitical features, which, well, they're not very recommendable. High inflation, political instability, and in the case of Mexico, stressed diplomatic relations. We've often said this, and we can repeat it now. It's what we said last year, indeed.
We are a Spanish bank, and therefore a European bank, and therefore we should be able to strike a balance between the origin of our profits, focusing on places closer to what we are and what we want to be. In no case do we need to abandon what we've got, which is excellent. Rather, we have to find how to generate profit in areas which don't have so much conflict with what we stand for. Now, relating to the share buyback, the capital reduction, and your dividend policy, we look at the future context in which the group will have to make big investments. Starting with the dividend, calculated as a payout against the earnings of the consolidated group, but paid by BBVA S.A.. That over EUR 3 billion would require BBVA—Mr. Shareholder, please, would you come to an end? Okay, I'm coming to an end.
Okay, with your buyback. The way we see it, it only makes financial sense if the share price is undervalued, and buyback will help the shareholders who stay in, because they'll get better returns as they participate in future earnings. But buybacks also indicate that there's a lag of having a good idea about where better to invest, and what we've been seeing in our country, indeed, has been... That when the government sees there are any extraordinary earnings, they want to participate in them. Please, Mr. Shareholder, would you come to an end? You're overrunning your time. Many thanks then, Mr. Chairman. Thank you. I now give the floor to Daniel Oliva Martínez.
Señora, shareholders, directors, chairman, CEO, good day. [Foreign language] . I'm Daniel Oliva, and I represent the Intersindical for the... This is the second consecutive year when you tell us you've had a record profit. While you depict this cyclical profits, we're here to denounce the same issues as last year and the year before that. Not only do we have the same concerns, these concerns are growing greater every year, and I don't think I'm the only one telling you this. All the trade unions that spoke before me have said the same thing. Precisely, you're currently negotiating the conditions of a new collective agreement with trade unions, and you remain locked in a position that closes the possibility for us to revert past losses and leads us to mortgage our future.
Since you're probably not happy with that, you aim to impose an increase in geographic mobility. I should like to think that you, you really do not believe in this mobility yourselves, and it's only a distraction from getting us to recover our purchasing power. Insisting with geographic mobility in the era of telework, thus hindering any attempt to merge work and personal life is dystopian. Do you think we're driving to work 100 miles a day on a Tesla? Is this how you acknowledge that one team we boast of?
You crossed a red line where you smashed four decades of collective agreements, four decades during which the frogs have been boiling slowly to death, and since we haven't jumped out of the pan, you now want to make us jump into the fire by offering mean and evil conditions. On February 29th, that's two weeks ago, one of these agreements was signed, and the next strike is expected one week from now. Massive and unpostponable strike, unless somebody starts buying your smoke and mirrors, which would be a great disappointment for us. But we're not here to ask you to share your EUR 4 billion profit cake with us, nor do we want to rain on your parade by any account. We are here to continue the struggle. We are here to defend the day-to-day lives of your workers.
We only want that this bank, for the people, at the service of people, will not exclude its own employees and clients. We want the slogan to remain active, not only for shareholders. You seem to be united by boundless greed. Today, we keep hearing that BBVA is one of the best employers out there, and we are the most engaged teams out there, but we're not told that those arguments were obtained through survey-biased surveys that were subtly guided, or not so subtly in some cases. And if you want to hear about boundless ambition, you will, you will keep saying that there are no business rankings in BBVA. You will probably use the word individualized, so that you won't be called a liar. It is deliberately ignored that those newly digitized clients are now being preyed to fraud and cyber fraud.
Clients that did not want to become digitalized were forced into digitalization because rates had to be achieved no matter what, and then left abandoned by the side of the road. Assistance was promised and never received. Certainly, you hired new digital consultants to provide advice to your clients, but they were immediately collapsed under new demands. And rather than advising your most vulnerable clients, these new employees are now performing tasks that you called expendable in the bank. And after this huge furlough you conducted in the bank, the 8,000 remaining employees are now left abandoned. That is why I keep talking about not ambition, but greed.
So ultimately, we are aware that we are frogs in the pan, slowly boiling to death, and I believe that it's time to lower the fire a little bit, and maybe that'll save you from bankruptcy and from looming bankruptcy in the future. That's all. Thank you. And thank you, Mr. Oliva. María Edurne Astui has the floor now.
Good morning. Given this exemplification, which has been recognized for BBVA, I'd like to get support from the bank in the re-ethical and moral regeneration of the country to reach the target of modernity, to overcome the problems that history has dragged this country into. That's all. Many thanks.
Muchas gracias, Doña María Pía. I give the floor to Miguel Antonio Sanz Olasagasti.
Good day. My name is Miguel Sanz Olasagasti, BBVA shareholder. BBVA has cost me nothing but the loss of thousands of euros, but I remain optimistic at having this opportunity to speak my mind directly to the chairman, and state that we have enough technology for the bank to reach even more impressive gains. You have a foundation called Frontiers of Knowledge. Actually, I feel sad about that name. We have technology that pushes the boundaries, actually knows no boundaries. Technology that can bring the bank into soaring profits, not only in profit, but also in the value of shares. You seem to be forgetting share value. I bought BBVA shares 17 years ago, and those were worth EUR 20 per share.
Right now, they stand at EUR 10 per share after 20 years, and I'm offering you the opportunity of using a technology. Now that you talk about sustainability, decarbonization, well, we bring the solution to those problems. I have come to several BBVA offices in San Sebastián, and no one's paid attention to me. I have tried to talk to you several times, and nobody could get me an appointment. So now that I can see you here face-to-face, I can offer you the technology you need, because you're embarked on the wrong path with artificial intelligence. AI will require plenty of energy, and you're not working on the right direction. I'm not a fan of artificial intelligence myself.
I would prefer human and emotional intelligence, and so—as someone said recently, you need to talk to people, and that's your big asset, your shareholders, your employees, which are absolutely unhappy, and your clients. Your clients used to be in your... teeming in your branches, ideas were exchanged, people met, whereas your branches now are a barren desert. You're lucky to find anyone in there. So that's what I wanted to tell you. Mind my words, we have the solution, and your bank can be one of the most important banks of the world, if not the most important one, if you would only heed my words.
Thank you, very much, Mr. Antonio. Mr. Ignacio María Aramburu has the floor now.
Egun on, Norin.
Egun on, and I'd like to congratulate you for a sustainable event. Now, regarding what the chairman has called tensions in the Middle East, I think that's rather a neutral way of saying there's a massacre going on an ongoing basis. Now, I have a question for you: Have you got figures for your presence in Israel and with respect to Israeli companies? I mean, think about the dignity, think about humanity. Are you going to go on investing in Israel and its companies whilst they go on massacring Palestinians and the innocents of Gaza? Thank you.
Thank you very much, Ignacio María. I now give the floor to Juan Horrach Colón.
Bon dia, Jaime. Bon dia, Jaime de Mallorca. Good day. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, directors of BBVA and attendants. Thank you for trusting BBVA. Today, we're closing a business year with a balance. My name is Juan Horrach Colón. I'm an individual shareholder, and I brought my concerns to the desk. I've brought my concerns about AI, the importance of employees, et cetera. My concern is about item 4 in today's agenda that is put for approval today. We see that 2023 ends with a 52% growth in the number of digital clients using mobile apps. That stands for 85% of our bank's transactions, and our chairman, Mr. Carlos Torres Vila, is telling us that thanks to artificial intelligence, we will continue to grow at an expected rate of...
or with an expected entrance of 80 new workers into the bank. When I was much younger, I came to know the BBVA Research Department in the 1970s. I believe it's an excellent research department, and this AGM has been asked to respect your employees, and that's what I'm here for. BBVA is much more than a business. Your very CEO told this meeting that you are much more than that. You are a bank made up of people. So I'm grateful that you're holding this shareholders meeting in Bilbao one more year, which I believe is appropriate since this is where the bank's origins are. And I'm very proud of BBVA as a bank. Our CEO, Mr.
Onur Genç stated that ours is a business for people providing services to people, and I believe in that. I believe in BBVA shares, and whatever few shares I have have been growing since the 1980s. So I would, I would like to oppose my words to the fourth participation of a gentleman who claimed that Spain is not a safe place to invest. Spain is a safe country for anyone to invest in the banking industry or other. So all the matters discussed today, transparency and legal action, are still up for discussion, but I'm here to pay my respects to BBVA and to urge BBVA to continue to work in that endeavor of growth, 65% in Spain. This growth gives us the opportunity to keep working without hindering the business. Your...
The 7% increase in SMEs, exceeding a larger company increase, is very encouraging. So I'm here to urge everyone in here to congratulate everyone in here for the work that has been done. Thank you, Mr. Colón. Magdalena López Garijo has the floor now.
Egun on. Egun on. I'm Magdalena López Garijo, and I'm speaking on behalf of the Banca Armada, representing 45 shareholders who've given us a proxy for over 190,022 shares. Mr. Chairman, yet again, this year, we've come to denounce the financial relationship between your bank and the armament industry in general, and those who manufacture nuclear arms, above all. Nuclear arms, for more than 3 years, have been banned under the international treaty, ratified by up to 70 countries recently. Apart from banning the production and marketing of nuclear arms and their components, there's also a ban on, in any way, helping the production and the distribution from taking place.
We're still seeing a modernization and increase of the nuclear arsenal in countries that haven't signed up to the treaty, reaching nuclear warheads of a volume which is more than sufficient to destroy life on the planet. If we look at those who are producing these arms, they need finance, which means that you are co-responsible for the proliferation of nuclear arms with all the associated risks. What's your specific role in all this process? Let me give you some figures. According to the latest report from the Don't Bank on the Bomb Campaign, of the 24 companies involved in the production of nuclear arms between January 1991 and 2023, BBVA has financed eight of them: Airbus, Boeing, General Dynamics, Honeywell International, Jacobs Solutions, Leonardo, Rolls-Royce, and L3Harris Technologies.
They've done with that with more than EUR 4,027 million through shares, bond emission, bond issues, and loans. So let's get into more detail. Airbus has received loans from BBVA for over EUR 435 million through ArianeGroup, the main contractor of ballistic thermonuclear warheads, launched from nuclear submarines, of which Airbus is developing the third version, which will be ready in 2025. Airbus, through the consortium, MBDA, is also making mid-range missiles for the French army with a contract to make the new hypersonic nuclear warheads that will be ready for 2035, with more than 1,000 kilometers range. Boeing's been given financing of over EUR 1 billion by the BBVA, probably enabling them to make key components for missiles and nuclear systems in the United States, like the Trident and the Standoff and other nuclear bombs of B61.
General Dynamics has had another EUR 632 million between loans and securities, with different contracts to make key components in Trident and Dreadnought nuclear submarines for the U.K. and the U.S. Honeywell International, which is a company getting richer because of the modernization of nuclear materials, like the Minuteman missiles, the new intercontinental Sentinel missiles, various other kinds of thermonuclear warheads and gravity bombs, have got EUR 946 million between securities and loans from BBVA. Jacobs Solutions, a company that has installations for the modernization and storage of nuclear arms, has been funded by BBVA with loans for EUR 122 million. Leonardo, which is also part of the MBDA consortium, has also received loans from BBVA for EUR 261 million. Thales, which is a subcontractor, has got another EUR 357 million.
And finally, EUR 57 million in loans have gone to Rolls-Royce, which is involved in producing key components for new Dreadnought submarines for the UK. There were some final details that we at least think are really worrying. 14x is the number of times that we can destroy the world, and this would be impossible without the funding of companies like yours. In a context like that in which we live, it's more necessary than ever to demand that banks like BBVA stop financing companies that are manufacturing nuclear arms. And in your bank, the funding that you're giving and the economic incentives you're giving to private investors are a fundamental pillar of the existence of nuclear warfare. And so, Mr.
Chairman, members of the board, we've given you a lot of figures today, although we know that all you're interested in are the economic profits that you're making. But this year, you've pulverized your earnings with over EUR 8 billion in profit, of which more than EUR 4 million will be used to remunerate your shareholders, shareholders. Everybody should bear responsibility. It's not just the governments that have to avoid war to stop the possibilities of nuclear warfare, the international agreements to stop arms race, which can have terrible consequences. The existence of more nuclear arms doesn't stop them from being used. It makes it more likely that they'll proliferate, and that it will be impossible for governments to keep control over them. You've got that EUR 4 billion, which you're putting into warfare. Why don't you put it into peace?
Because if you don't, we will continue to denounce your responsibility in funding the nuclear threat. You talk about corporate social responsibility, in defense, you're not applying it really. Your policy just is useless. We're in a crucial moment in history. All the elements are there, which could lead to an enormous war, which means that the nuclear threat is coming closer and closer. Thank you. I give the floor to Marina Regojo.
Good day, everyone. I will make it short, since I believe I'm the last to speak. I want to tell you about a big challenge and a big opportunity at the same time. I am concerned about the environment and climate change. I'm concerned that there's an increasing amount of drought and less water. I'm concerned about sea level rising. I'm concerned about more and more climate refugees. I'm concerned that we continue on this race for now, for immediate, and for immediacy, rather than pondering and thinking about our future and what is to come. I'm concerned about the consequences this philosophy will have on our planet and on future generations. I'm worried that nothing significant is being done to enhance the climate and environmental situation. It is our responsibility to take care of our planet as it is our home.
Thanks to the resources nature provides, we survive. But unless we respect that nature, if we pollute with no boundaries, and if we exploit natural resources, they're likely to deplete, and nature will turn its back on us. So our climate is changing, and our world is changing. We need brave people who will take bold steps into the future, even if they're not popular today, to slow down climate change and the deterioration of our planet, our world, everyone's world. The challenge and the opportunity is here. Can BBVA lead a change that, change that will truly help us all? Would you be bold enough to take measures for the greater good of society, of nature, of everyone's present, and future? It's a great opportunity for you to become a role model, because ultimately, God knows we need one, as it is vital for our future survival.
Today, you have a great opportunity to make the necessary changes in our system and our economy, to change the rules of the game, the structure of our very society, before it is too late and no possible alternative is out there. For everyone's sake, pick up the challenge. With your influence, help us create a future that will be better, not just for you, but for everyone. Thank you. Thank you. Next, we have Eneko Calle García. You have the floor, sir.
Hello, good morning. Egun on, ladies and gentlemen, shareholders, members of the Board of Directors, Mr. Chairman. My name is Eneko Calle, and I'm speaking here on behalf of the Movement of Solidarity with Palestine, working with Banca Armada, representing 24 shareholders who've given us their proxy for over 190,000 shares. We're here to denounce the responsibility of your bank in the very serious situation faced by the Palestine people, subject to a colonizing, illegal occupation and an apartheid regime, as has been denounced by organizations of human rights, such as Amnesty International and Al-Haq. Since the seventh of October, they've been committing genocide crimes, which are being investigated by the international courts. What's the role of BBVA in all of this?
Well, some of the profits that you've been reporting today have been obtained through the funding given to a lot of the companies operating from and working with the illegal settlements in the West Bank, in Palestine, and helping the arms companies to sell their goods to Israel, which makes you co-responsible, not just for the confiscation of land, the destruction of homes, and the forced displacement of Palestinians, but also the genocide that is currently being perpetrated by the Zionist project in Gaza. Let's look at the data to illustrate and give you a context. From the seventh of October, the offensive of the Israeli army has caused more than 31,000 deaths among the Palestinians, including 12,500 children.
We think that 1.7 million people have been displaced from their homes, 50% of the buildings have been destroyed, totally or partially, and the authorities in Israel are stopping any humanitarian aid from reaching the 2.2 million people. The latest report from Don't Bank on the Bomb, published in February 2024, shows how the BBVA has given, between 2021 and 2023, more than EUR 1 billion in loans and financial securities to four arms companies that are now benefiting from the war against Gaza. For example, Boeing, a company that manufactures F-35 planes, which are being used by the Israeli forces to commit war crimes in Gaza. General Dynamics, a company that's supplying artillery and bombs for the attack planes being used by the Israelis in the offensive against Gaza.
Leonardo, the biggest manufacturer of naval cannons in Italy, as well as the warships, and also Rolls-Royce, whose tanks are being used by Israel in Gaza in their November attacks against hospitals. The report Don't Buy Into Occupation, published in December 2023, established that BBVA gave between 2020 and 2024, EUR 5.3 billion between loans and securities of different kinds, to at least nine companies involved in the expansion of infrastructures and illegal buildings in occupied Palestine territory, the destruction of homes, the confiscation of lands, and surveillance and control and isolation of Palestine peoples. With this report, we've seen how between 2018 and 2021, BBVA put in EUR 241 million worth of Caterpillar, making armored bulldozers, which are being used to demolish Palestine homes used in the Israel land war against Gaza in the last month.
EUR 700 million to Cemex, and EUR 558 million to CNH Industrial, participating in the construction of illegal settlements, walls, and military control points. Or EUR 195 million to MAN SE, which has plants which go to the Skunk, which is designed for the repression of protest movements. The occupation of Palestine territory by Israel is not exclusively military. We're also talking about a strategy which includes arms and services, which are required to ensure the Palestine homes are handed over to Israeli settlers, and you're all responsible for making this possible. Mr. Chairman, members of the board, continually, we ask the same question each year: How long are you going to go on making a profit from the business of war? Shareholders, with our movement, we're sure that many of you feel very uncomfortable that your savings are going into this purpose.
So help us to request our leaders here to stop letting the bank work with these companies. May Palestine be free again. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Eneko. Having heard the interventions from people here in the hall, we now get questions that have come in from the shareholders attending remotely.
... Sustainability, remunerations, and board. My name is Juan Prieto. I'm a shareholder, holding 500 shares, founder of Corporance, member of the NetZero European Network. On behalf of ShareAction and other institutional investors, including European pension funds, among others, I want my comment to be recorded on record. Here's a question from ShareAction in both English and Spanish. Will BBVA publish a plan by the end of 2024 to restrict financing new oil and gas projects? Sustainability. Other international banks, like Deutsche Bank, demand decision plans for their oil and gas clients, explicitly stating they will not exploit new fields. Plus, Crédit Agricole, Crédit Mutuel, and Société Générale have limited corporate funding to large carbon issuers. In the Paris Accord, BBVA, or after that accord, BBVA has made contributions to exploiting fossil fuels. In 2021, the IEA...
Admitted that no further fossil fuels are admitted in the path to 1.5 degrees, and BBVA uses the NZE calculation for net emissions, and still, BBVA provided nearly $500 million to the expansion. So we urge them to publish a policy to restrict the financing of new oil and gas projects by the end of 2024, and then demand clients to publish their transition plans by a certain deadline, prohibiting or banning the exploitation of new oil and gas gas reservoirs. And under remunerations, as a proxy advisor, we inform you of our vote recommendation against proposals 4 and 6 about remuneration. As you know, from the letters we sent, as investors, we consider that the remuneration of directors is well above comparable peers, European banks with similar business volumes and market caps.
This also applies to the executive chairman and CEO, which entails double remuneration in comparison to your peers that don't have executive chair people. This remuneration above the market is extended to all directors, particularly independent one, three of which receive remunerations exceeding EUR 35,000 a year, particularly the independent and the lead director. Thus, we vote against items 2.4, 2.5, and 2.6. All details of this opinion has been sent by letter in the past few years with no reply from you. We need to establish good dialogue practices between the bank and shareholders. Ultimately, we thank you for this possibility for participation, and we expect your reply as soon as possible. About Don Manuel Pardos Vicente.
Subject, in representation of consumers, just as last year, your entity is showing record data and profit and dividends paid out. These data come mostly from inflation and the subsequent increase of interest rates, both domestically and internationally, a monetary policy that you have efficiently translated to the granting of loans. However, your efficiency does not equally translate to the remuneration of deposits offered to consumers. Maybe you're growing used to prosperous years, which makes us think how far you would come to maintain that level of profit. The first victim was consumer savings. What will come next in your endeavor to cut costs, and how much will you reduce the service you offer, and what's your strategy to maintain these profits long term? According to your data, minority shareholders are 38.34% of your total shareholders.
This data, plus attendance data of nearly 68%, leads to highly relevant conclusions. It seems evident that your present format does not attract minority shareholders, and it looks like the sole activity highlight is the discussion of variable remuneration. Minority shareholders are legitimate owners of your business. When will they be allowed to participate in the decisions affecting the future of your entity? Also, complying with transparency duties should not involve overwhelming shareholders with enormous amounts of information. Transparency should go hand in hand with clarity. We are certain that you can relay information on your entity in a much clearer, comprehensible way. And to conclude with this comment, we would like to mention the situation of your Turkish brand, Garanti.
The value of that was reduced from EUR 7.8 billion to EUR 1.1 billion, a number significantly lower than the one invested to acquire a stake in that entity. Although Garanti data are not bad, they're disturbing considering the general context of the country. How would you address, and how would you explain this situation to your shareholders? We would also like to hear about other general interest matters. Your entity has one of the CET1 fully loaded ratios that are highest in Europe, which maximizes your profit. Do you intend to grow this ratio to cover possible exposure in different scenarios of a default? Why not use your historical data to bring your entity up to par to the European average? Europe is moving towards a standardization of capital markets.
However, a Spanish consumer, BBVA client or not, cannot compare their data to those of other countries in the EU. Have you considered correcting this situation or this bias? In previous meetings, we have expressed our doubt about sustainable products or connected to SDGs, which you so proudly announce to shareholders. Our questions come from the conclusions reached by ESMA on sustainable funds and linked or in connection with SDGs. Possible greenwashing practices have been denounced, and funds linked to the SDGs are no different from other funds. All of this despite the huge increase in markets. Is the European regulator lying?
And finally, we would like to urge you to consider the Banking Levy as your - to stop considering the Banking Levy as your enemy, and consider it as a compensation for the negative effect your business has had in Europe. Thank you.
... Well, now that these questions have concluded, we will devote a few minutes to answer the rounded up questions. The secretary will respond to other matters at the end of my general answer. Now I will answer the questions that have been brought up and what's been said by our shareholders, with those who spoke here in the hall and the other people who sent in their feedback remotely. A lot of the aspects brought up are in common, so I'll give you an answer, grouping together things by subject matter, starting with the representatives of the workers. We've listened to what you said, ACB, Comisiones Obreras, CGT, UGT, CIG, SEC, ELA, and Intersindical.
So first of all, I'd like to thank all these workers' representatives for their contributions, and thank you for your interest in the well-being of all of our employees, all of our staff, and your interest in the bank as well. It's not just the contributions you've made today, it's also the way you've contributed throughout the year. I know that you've done a lot of hard work for the purposes of supporting the interests of the people you represent, so we can together build the best bank and get a positive working environment for our employees. Regarding more specifically, the business matters that you brought up today. Given that a lot of what you've said is similar, I'll give you a unified answer, dealing with the main matters you brought up. I already said initially that our team is a strategic priority in BBVA.
I think it's something the CEO said, too. As I said initially, I'd like to reiterate my thanks to all of the employees who form part of BBVA for your effort, your hard work, and your commitment. Without a doubt, we've got the best team. We work actively to make everyone be the best team. We are concerned about people as a company, and we've got several initiatives to motivate and retain the best talent. In line with the values of the group, the impact of talent management in 2023 has been very positive. In the Gallup engagement poll, and for this year, we've had the participation of 96% of our staff. I say that because some people have cast doubt on the validity of these surveys. We're not talking about a sample survey, we're talking about practically all of our staff answering.
We've obtained a score which is outstanding, a global index of 4.43 out of 5. Now, moving on to matters brought up by the union reps, I'd like to talk about the collective bargaining we're involved in. I think you've all referred to this, and as you said, we are currently bargaining a new collective agreement with the Spanish Banking Association, and in BBVA, like, we want to reach the best agreement, and as we did at the end of 2022, when BBVA went beyond what had originally just been agreed with the trade unions. We were the first bank to announce a 2.2% top up over and above the basic increase in the wage for all employees, guaranteeing at least EUR 1,000 and improving the pension and welfare plans.
We've shown our will to adopt improvements in wage to palliate the impact of inflation on the loss of purchasing power among our employees to improve their financial health, which is why, under the current banking employees agreement, we nonetheless agreed to increase wages by more than 4.4% as of January 2023, although this wasn't obligatory. Apart from that additional increase, we also wanted to encourage financial health measures, incorporating other economic benefits for our employees. In 2023, the bank decided to increase by 48%, the minimum contribution made to the pension funds of its employees in Spain, making available to it a new long-term savings plan, co-financing the savings of the employees to their retirement rate with 40%.
The policy is now a future, and it's been accepted with more than 10,000 employees signing up for it, which is 47.8% of the potential group of employees of 21,580. So in order to deal with Europe all going up, we've tried to help our employees with special loans, and I should mention the increase in the variable remuneration of our employees linked to the excellent earnings that we have obtained over recent years, including 2023. Also, the promotions and higher additional wages because of meritocracy policies, which means that we have proven that we are genuinely concerned for our employees and will continue to work along these lines in the future.
And then we've increased it, the value offered to our employees, with a whole lot of flexibility and reconciliation measures, the consolidation of the remote working model, and the response has definitely been positive. Nonetheless, we're still working to make further progress in getting more flexible working conditions. We've set up also certain initiatives related to health and well-being among our staff. And in BBVA, for a long time, we've been making decisive progress towards gender diversity to get 35% women in management positions before the end of 2024, and that figure we think we'll reach in the next few months. At the end of 2023, this percentage was already 34.7%. Along with the previous things I've mentioned, we're launching a program to get more generational diversity as a key driver for our transformation.
Regarding the mentions of some pressure being placed on our sales force, I've talked about this in previous AGMs. You know that if people do more than they should, then it's due to one-off behaviors out of context, and they in no way represent the general policy of the bank. I'd also like to mention that we're improving our working environments with programs such as the Plan Personas in Spain or the global initiative to encourage greater skill training. To clarify, it doesn't mean, as you have suggested in your presentations, it doesn't suggest that the owners, for the managers, quite far from it, is a recurring agreement the banks submit to the AGMs in compliance with the applicable regulations that establish that there should be a cap on variable remuneration for those employees whose professional activities have a big impact on the risk profile.
That's why they're called risk takers, and it can't be more than the variable. Well, the variable part can't be more than the fixed part of their remuneration unless the AGM approves it being so. And that's what item four means, and it can't be more anyway, ever, than 2x the fixed remuneration. In our case, what's being proposed to the AGM, as happened in previous years, ever since we've had this regulation, putting up this limit to 2x the fixed remuneration, the aim is to preserve the competitive situation of the remuneration policy of the group, taking into account the particularities of the geographical areas in which we are operating, and our business model, and our strategic priorities, including that, as we've said, of having a world-class engaged team. This represents the possibility-...
of variable remuneration going up, but it doesn't mean to say it necessarily has to reach this maximum limit, and in fact, it doesn't usually do so. Regarding the rest of matters you've brought up regarding remuneration for 2023, the remuneration. Well, talking about this, maybe it would be better for the secretary to explain, and he can also talk about the other remuneration-related matters. Yes, regarding this, I'd like to indicate that the remuneration for 2023 are, as you know, the outcome of the application of directly applying the BBVA directors rules, approved on the 17th of March, 2023, by the AGM, by more than 95% of votes from our shareholders. We should remind you that the policy established as remuneration policy, which was defined in line with the best practices in the market, whose concepts are there in Article 50 of the corporate bylaws.
In compliance with the policy, the remuneration is determined at the end of a market analysis done by an independent firm in order to establish that the remuneration should be fair and in line with performance and in line with our peers. Regarding the variable remuneration for the year, this is directly related to the performance, responding to the excellent earnings from the bank, with the different indications established by the board at the beginning of 2023 and duly published. Here, we should point out that, as indicated, the earnings were record this year, and reported for this year, we've got more than EUR 8 billion in earnings, which is an increase of over 26% against the previous year. Many thanks. Thank you.
And then finally, I'd like to recognize here, quite explicitly, that a lot of hard work has been done by the union reps, especially this year, with important agreements being signed, like the equality plan, the harassment plans, and the lending plans that we have for our staff. We're aware that we are all doing everything we can to help people working in BBVA, and on our side, we'll continue to break out of the mold to do anything to make BBVA an even better place to work. Regarding other matters you brought up, I'd like to say that although we can't right now go into all the detail that perhaps they merit, because you do have genuine grievances that you want to put to us, but we do listen to them, and you know what the communication channels are through the Talent and Culture department.
In 2024, for BBVA, we'll have another year of growth with a positive impact on the societies in which we operate, contributing to the economic and social progress of these places. Regarding what Mr. García-Toraño said, representing Uniter, first of all, he talked about the renewal of the board. Well, here, you already know that the proposals being put to the AGM form part of a process for progressive, orderly renewal of the Board of Directors, and according to the best practices in corporate governance, the appointments committee every year looks at the structure, the size, and the composition of the board in order to ensure that it's appropriate for performing the duties it has to do now and in the future.
The outcome of the process leads to new people coming in with different expertise and profiles to boost the range of skills in the board, looking at how appropriate it will be to have new members coming in alongside others who've got more experience on the board. Over the last four years, we've had the appointment of seven new directors, including the appointments being put to the AGM today. These directors have different profiles, which ensure that the board will be properly composed with the right kind of experience and expertise in key areas for the strategy and the business and the risk profiles in the bank. You also talked about our presence in different geographies, and I'd like to say here that the balance between developed and emerging markets isn't, in itself, a criterion that we use in the assignation of capital.
Rather, we look at how attractive each market is and what our relative position is there, and what kind of return on investment we could get, along with what kind of value we could create for shareholders. And we feel comfortable with the current setup in the group, which is in line with our investment strategy, with leading franchises, with enough of a critical mass to be able to work in places where there's a proper rule of law, and we think we can do our business best. Remunerating our shareholders is important to us. We define this. Well, BBVA defines the dividend policy relating to the consolidated group, so dividend is therefore more sustainable. And this isn't a new policy.
In 2023, we showed that we're still in compliance with our commitment to get profitable growth, creating value in the markets where we operate, and that makes it possible to go on investing in growth, taking advantage of opportunities that come up in these markets, and maintaining an adequate flow of dividends from the group's subsidiaries. I'd like to highlight that our sound capacity to generate organic capital means that we've been able to consistently fund our profitable growth in the different markets where we're operating, increasing our payout to our shareholders whilst maintaining sound capital ratios. Regarding the buyback of shares that Paulino talked about, this is another driver for creating shareholder value with a very positive impact on earnings per share and the growth of shareholder returns. You talked about our investment in Turkey-...
As did the representative of ADICAE, and I'd like to indicate that the performance of our bank in Turkey in 2023 was hit by the depreciation of the currency and the circumstances of high inflation, which persisted there. Nonetheless, Garanti BBVA is the best bank in the country. Its financial position is very sound. It's got proven resilience and capacity to generate earnings on a recurrent basis, even in difficult and complex environments, which has meant that despite the negative hit from the depreciation of the lira and the high inflation in the country, the contribution to the group's earnings has been positive over the last few years. Now, moving on to what else you said in ... We want to have profitable growth through rolling out our strategy on the basis of innovation and sustainability.
This strategy has made it possible to obtain the excellent earnings we've reported today, growing continuously in customers, business, market shares, especially in the most profitable segments. As has already been said, that places us in a unique position to go on growing profitably. With respect to your question about capital ratios, the CET1 fully loaded ratio in 2023, at the end of the year, we were at 12%, which was high, way above the regulator's requirements of just 9.09, and also above our own target range, between 11.5% and 12%. We are, in fact, one of the European banks that have got the best position there in capital.
As for your references to products sold in other parts of the European Union, I'll say that every market is different, it has its own trends, its own regulations, which are not always homogeneous. As for investments in sustainable products, our sustainable funds are rated according to existing regulation and are registered in the different jurisdictions and subject to the European SFDR regulations. As for Mr. Aguirre's comments, we regret the terrible humanitarian crisis in the region, of course, but BBVA has no presence in Israel, and therefore, our exposure to customers in the country is negligible. I would like to thank Mrs. Ayuso for her words and her environmental proposal.
Sustainability is, as you know, one of the BBVA strategic priorities, as I said earlier, and we also agree that decarbonization is a huge challenge, but also a great opportunity, as I've said, and it has proven to be an even greater opportunity than we expected, and it is one of the great drivers for growth in the group. And that's why we're focused on two targets, where we want to be leaders, to develop new businesses through sustainability, by funding the investments necessary for decarbonization, developing sustainable products, with the key goal of supporting our clients through funding and advice in their transition plans.
Also, apart from promoting new business, we have a target of zero net emissions by 2050, with decarbonization plans for the most general or most relevant sectors, going with our clients in their decarbonization strategies and including them in our risk tools in order to help align our portfolios as funding partners of the Net-Zero Banking Alliance, sponsored by the UN. Apart from the environmental aspects, our belief in sustainability also entails promoting sustainable, inclusive development, not just through our own business, where we fund the real economy by promoting social and economic development, but we also want to amplify our positive impact on communities by allocating EUR 550 million to social programs from 2021 to 2025 in order to have a positive impact on 100 million people.
Additionally, we've given an extra boost in 2023 to our focus on natural capital and the protection of biodiversity, assessing the risks and impact of our customers' activities, identifying business opportunities through, for example, funding necessary investments in key sectors which are highly dependent on the use of water. In response to Mr. Prieto's comments, representing ShareAction, I'd like to say that, first of all, the bank does have a, an ongoing, constant dialogue with its stakeholders, and I know that's also true of the NGO you represent here. As for your request to restrict the funding of new gas and oil projects, I'll state that the bank already has a plan which is in force. We are not funding new projects for surveying, drilling, or extracting oil and gas.
As I said in my initial speech, we have a strategy to reduce emissions in all highly emitting sectors, and particularly for gas and oil, we have set an absolute emission reduction target, financed emissions by BBVA, of 30% by 2030. We are making significant progress towards that target, as we have published in our non-financial information report this last year. As for the questions raised by Mr. del Rivero about the Cenyt case, as you yourself have pointed out. This is currently sub judice, and it's in the hands of the Audiencia Nacional.
The investigation phase concluded in January 2024, and now BBVA's priority, and always has been, under the leadership of the Board of Directors, it is and has been, full cooperation with the judicial authorities to investigate the matters, and the bank believes that there is no liability and no responsibility for BBVA in the facts that are under investigation. But again, from the very beginning, we have provided full cooperation under the leadership of the Board of Directors, whose members, by the way, have no connection with the case. As for the comments made by Banca Armada, questioning the bank's policies and activities in these areas, I'd like to make it very clear that in BBVA, we have a social environmental framework, which identifies a series of sectors and activities which may have a high social environmental impact.
This is a voluntary framework which we use because it helps us in the due diligence process in our decision-making. It's a framework which we've designed based on best practices in the market and the highest international standards. In this framework, there are restrictions applicable to the defense sector, which, is the one you referred to in your question, and which I have explained in other general shareholders' meeting. This framework means that BBVA will not fund the manufacturing or selling of controversial weapons. For the particular case of nuclear weapons, the restriction applies to producers or distributors of nuclear weapons or key components to countries that are non-signatories of the Non-Proliferation Treaty or which are in breach of that treaty.
This framework also prevents us from funding weapons sales to countries that are under sanctions or an arms embargo, or in high risk of human right violations. So the bank's commitments with social environmental issues and with this sector, in particular, is, I think, clear and well known. Finally, as for comments from Mr. Morantin, since you've already had a reply in writing, your previous requests in writing for information, the questions that you've raised today with regards to that merger between Telefónica and Terra, which happened in 2005, so that's almost 20 years ago, do not align with the legally recognized right for information of the bank's shareholders. In spite of that, again, we'll say that BBVA transferred its stake in Terra in 2003.
And so when that merger between Telefónica and Terra happened in 2005, BBVA did not have a stake in Terra, as you mentioned. And as for our stake in Telefónica, we feel comfortable with our current position. And finally, I'd like to point out that in some of the comments, personal issues have been raised, commercial issues in others, and other matters which are not in the agenda of this AGM. Some of these topics we've already replied to before or during this AGM, and the rest will be considered by the relevant areas within the bank, and if appropriate, a response will be given. And now, we will vote on the proposed agreements. We will now vote on the items that have been presented to this AGM and which are in our agenda.
In order to make the voting process easier, we would like to ask those shareholders who are here in person, and who would like their abstention or their voting against these proposals to be reflected in the minutes to address the notary's desk at the conclusion of these proceedings. As for those shareholders who are attending remotely and who would like to vote and haven't done so already, I remind you that, as stated in the call and in the instructions on the bank's website relative to this AGM, you may vote on the proposed resolutions through the tab, Voting, on the remote attendance portal until the voting proceedings are concluded. Considering the votes that have been cast directly and those cast by proxy, we can now announce that all proposed resolutions presented by the Board of Directors have been approved.
Therefore, we have established the number of members of the Board of Directors at 15. We would like to ask the notary public to please reflect this in the minutes. When these proceedings are completed, we will give the notary public the result of the votes cast remotely and by proxy to be added to those that have already been cast, so that he may reflect it in the notarized minutes. Ladies and gentlemen, shareholders, since there are no more matters to be discussed, we will now adjourn this session. Thank you very much.