Brazil's biggest listed banks are receiving a flood of requestsfrom companies to renegotiate the terms of at least 100 billion Brazilian reaisin troubled loans, Reuters reported.

Amid the country's deep recession, banks are looking to containdefaults by reducing borrowing costs and extending maturities for small and largecorporate clients. Data from BancoCentral do Brasil showed that banks renegotiated 130 billion reais inloans in 2015, the report added.

Domingos Falavina, an analyst for JPMorgan Securities LLC, forecastthat if restructurings continue their trend for another year, earnings for Brazil'slargest banks could drop by up to 17%. Meanwhile, analysts from GoldmanSachs are concerned that Brazil's deteriorating economic situation will drag downaverage return on equity for Brazilian banks to a 15-year low.

As of April 26, US$1 wasequivalent to 3.53 Brazilian reais.