CaixaEconômica Federal now expects its loan portfolio to grow by between7% and 7.5% in 2016, the lower end of its prior range, Bloomberg News reported,citing CFO Marcio Percival.
The company had previously set a loan growth range of 7% to11%; in 2015, itsexpanded credit portfolio grew by 11.9%.
Percival said that delinquency rates are expected to hitbetween 3.5% and 3.85%.
The bank posted first-quarter net income of 837.8 millionBrazilian reais, down 45.9% compared to a year ago. Percival said that thedecline in net income was due to a credit provision of about 700 million reais relatedto a company in the oil and gas industry, but refused to mention the name.
As of May 9, US$1 wasequivalent to 3.55 Brazilian reais.