The combined fourth-quarter 2018 profit of Colombia's three largest listed banks jumped 28.94% from a year earlier as higher interest income offset a slight decline in fees and commissions.

Collective net income for Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores SA, Bancolombia SA and Grupo Bolívar SA reached 2.210 trillion Colombian pesos in the three-month period, up from 1.714 trillion pesos in the fourth quarter of 2017, according to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence.

The increase in aggregate profitability was driven by Bogotá-based Grupo Aval, which saw its quarterly profit rise 82.28% annually to 850.70 billion pesos. Bancolombia and Grupo Bolívar both registered a relatively smaller year-over-year increase in profits.

As a group, the three banks booked aggregate net interest income of 6.934 trillion pesos in the fourth quarter, up 5.48% from a year earlier. The group's total fee and commission income, however, fell to 2.308 trillion pesos from 2.321 trillion pesos.

Meanwhile, aggregate expenses for the three banks ticked 5.06% higher from a year ago to 9.107 trillion pesos in the fourth quarter of 2018.

As of March 28, US$1 was equivalent to 3,200.10 Colombian pesos.