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TOP NEWS IN LATIN AMERICAN BANKING & FINANCIAL SERVICES
* Brazil's Banco Bradesco SA booked fourth-quarter 2020 recurring net income of 6.80 billion reais, up 2.3% from 6.65 billion reais in the year-ago period. Net interest income grew 8.0% to 16.66 billion reais year over year, while expanded allowance for loan losses fell 18.3% yearly to 4.57 billion reais.
* Mexico's Banco Santander México SA recorded net income of 5.48 billion pesos for the fourth quarter of 2020, 11.5% higher year over year from 4.92 billion pesos. Net fees and commissions were up 8.9% to 4.71 billion pesos, while provisions for loan losses at the bank were down 35.2% yearly to 3.15 billion pesos.
* Banco Santander SA Executive Chairman Ana Botín said during a conference call that the bank is planning to list Brazilian payment processor GETNET Tecnologia em Captura e Processamento de Transações HUAH SA this year. Banco Santander (Brasil) SA CEO Sérgio Rial said the listing will possibly be done in the third quarter, Valor Econômico reported.
➤ Investment banks report strong Q4'20 earnings in early results
Goldman Sachs' latest earnings results were up $7.39 per share on a yearly basis, reflecting higher net revenues across all segments, including significant increases in global markets and investment banking.
➤ Rapid biodiversity loss poses financial risk for business, new report finds
The global value of natural capital plunged nearly 40% between 1992 and 2014 on a per person basis, according to a first-of-its-kind report commissioned by the U.K. Treasury.
BANKING
* A proposal for Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce to sell part of its majority stake in Barbados' FirstCaribbean International Bank Ltd. to Colombia's GNB Financial Group Ltd. did not get approval from FirstCaribbean's regulators. As such, the stake sale will no longer proceed.
* Brazil's Banco Bradesco SA released guidance for 2021, and expects its loan portfolio to expand between 9% and 13%, and sees expanded allowances for loan losses for this year to be 14.0 billion reais and 17.0 billion reais. Fee and commission income is forecast to grow between 1% and 5%, while income from insurance, pension plans and capitalization bonds is seen to grow between 2% and 6%. Meanwhile, operating expenses are expected to shrink by between 1% and 5%.
* Banco Santander (Brasil) SA expects a slight increase in delinquency and default risk in the coming months, although for now the Brazilian bank has seen no signs of this, Valor Econômico reported, citing CFO Angel Santodomingo.
* Banco Santander Chile's fourth-quarter 2020 net income attributable to equity holders of the Chilean bank soared 57.2% to 183.44 billion pesos from 116.71 billion pesos a year ago. Net interest income during the period jumped 18.0% to 443.64 billion pesos, while operating income rose 47.8% to 222.41 billion pesos.
POLICY AND REGULATION
* Mexican central bank Deputy Governor Jonathan Heath said that the monetary authority will consider further cuts in the key rate after April, El Financiero reported. Heath lobbied unsuccessfully in the last two board meetings to cut the rate by 25 basis points to 4%.
INDUSTRY NEWS
* Fitch Ratings downgraded Panama's long-term foreign currency issuer default rating to BBB- from BBB, with a negative rating outlook. Fitch cited severe weakening in the country's public finances as the coronavirus pandemic worsened underlying financial issues.
MARKETS
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Pablo Jiménez Arandia contributed to this report.
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