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BBVA Bancomer, Banco de Chile, Cielo post higher Q4 profits

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BBVA Bancomer, Banco de Chile, Cielo post higher Q4 profits

* BBVA Bancomer SA Institución de Banca Múltiple Grupo Financiero BBVA Bancomer booked net income of 9.80 billion Mexican pesos for the fourth quarter of 2017, up 39.6% from 7.02 billion pesos in the year-ago period. The bank's net interest income jumped 11.0% year over year to 29.56 billion pesos.

* Banco de Chile posted net income attributable to its owners of 142.35 billion Chilean pesos for the fourth quarter of 2017, up 14.8% from 124.03 billion pesos a year earlier. Net interest income was up 4.2% annually to 318.87 billion pesos, while net income from fees and commissions was up 6.6% to 86.47 billion pesos.

* Cielo SA booked IFRS net income of about 1.04 billion reais for the fourth quarter of 2017, up 3.1% year over year, as the company's financial volume of transactions in Brazil, excluding the agro product, jumped 8.7%.

MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA

* Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA is expecting high-single-digit growth in net interest income in Mexico, the Spanish bank's largest market, in 2018 despite a slight slowdown in lending in the country during the fourth quarter of 2017, CFO Jaime Sáenz de Tejada said during an earnings call. Net interest income at the group's Mexican operations grew 9.5% to €5.44 billion in 2017, while net profit rose 12.7% to €2.16 billion.

* Mexican anti-trust commission Cofece said it has launched an investigation into "probable" monopolistic practices, such as price discrimination, in the country's e-commerce market, Reuters reported. The agency did not name any of the companies being probed.

CARIBBEAN

* First Citizens Bank Ltd. said its board has agreed to change the frequency of the company's dividend payments to quarterly from semiannually. The new scheme takes effect immediately, with quarterly dividends to be paid on the company's profits for the 2017-2018 financial period.

BRAZIL

* Banco BTG Pactual SA and Caixa Participações SA have renewed a shareholders' agreement that was set to expire next year, enabling them to continue as co-controllers of Banco Pan SA. The agreement was extended for an additional period of eight years, with the contract expiring Feb. 1, 2027.

* A federal Brazilian court issued an order to arrest José Carlos Xavier de Oliveira, the former CEO of Bank of New York Mellon Corp.'s Brazilian subsidiary, as part of a corruption investigation related to the local Postalis pension fund, Reuters reported, citing "a source with knowledge of the matter." Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social CEO Paulo Rabello de Castro was also questioned by police but later released, according to a court document.

* A cost-cutting program at Banco Bradesco SA should help boost profits at the bank in 2018 as it deals with weaker lending to corporate clients, Diário Comércio Indústria & Serviços reported, citing comments by investor relations Director Carlos Firetti.

* Caixa Econômica Federal said it is performing a rigorous analysis on its allocation of capital for unsecured loans to states and municipal authorities, noting that this portfolio is currently in good shape with high levels of compliance, Diário Comércio Indústria & Serviços reported. The state-run bank recently suspended lending to public entities under a new capitalization plan after reports claimed those loans were granted using tax receipts as collateral, which is prohibited by the constitution, the publication reported separately.

* Under new rules set to be published by Brazil's central bank in the coming weeks, local lenders will have to conduct customer satisfaction surveys to evaluate the performance of their ombudsmen, Valor Econômico reported, citing a central bank newsletter. The new rules will take effect in July.

* Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social CEO Paulo Rabello de Castro said the bank plans to make an early repayment of 30 billion reais of debt to Brazil's Treasury in the coming days, Valor Econômico reported. The bank is looking to repay a total of 130 billion reais to the Treasury in 2018.

ANDEAN

* U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the U.S. government is not promoting "regime change" in Venezuela, although the South American country's military could move to oust President Nicolas Maduro, Reuters reported. Tillerson said it would be "easiest" if Maduro stepped down on his own.

* Óscar Rivera has resigned as president of Peru's Asbanc banking industry association for personal reasons after serving nearly 11 years in the position, SEMANAeconómica reported.

SOUTHERN CONE

* The board of Chile's central bank unanimously decided to maintain its benchmark interest rate at 2.5%. The bank said inflation "brought no big surprises" and has remained around 2% annually for both headline and core CPI inflation.

* GPAT Compañía Financiera SA said it raised 500 million Argentine pesos in a securities offering of its negotiable bonds.

* Multifinanzas Compania Financiera SA said it will propose a capital increase worth 10.0 million Argentine pesos to be implemented through the issuance of new shares. The proposal will be put to a shareholder vote on Feb. 28.

* Uruguay's government plans to use multilateral borrowing and issue bonds worth $2.7 billion in order to meet financing requirements of about $3.08 billion in 2018, Reuters reported, citing the country's economy ministry.

* Argentina's main banking union has called a nationwide strike on Feb. 9, Feb. 19 and Feb. 20 to push for higher wages in the sector after pay negotiations stalled, Clarín reported.

IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD

* Asia-Pacific: India to merge, list 3 insurers; Alibaba to buy 33% stake in Ant Financial

* Middle East & Africa: IDB to sell Banque Zitouna stake; Standard Bank gets new CEO in Malawi

* North America: Blackstone eyeing NZ-based finance firm; fintech firm Moven to buy bank in US

* North America Insurance: Insurers bump up insurtech investments; Cigna and Radian report earnings

Helen Popper contributed to this article.

The Daily Dose has an editorial deadline of 8:00 a.m. São Paulo time, and scans news sources published in English, Portuguese and Spanish. Some external links may require a subscription.