Credicorp Ltd.'s profit for the fourth quarter of 2017 jumped 18.8% from a year earlier as the company booked lower loan-loss provisions and higher nonfinancial income.
Quarterly net income attributed to Credicorp reached about 1.06 billion Peruvian soles, rising from 895.0 million soles in the year-ago period. Earnings per share improved year over year to 13.34 soles from 11.22 soles.
The company's net interest income totaled 2.07 billion soles, increasing 1.1% from the fourth quarter of 2016. Credicorp's net interest margin, meanwhile, was 5.28%, compared to 5.32% in the linked quarter and 5.58% a year earlier.
The growth in profitability was driven by strong nonfinancial income, which ticked 25.8% higher year over year to 1.28 billion soles. Results from insurance service underwriting improved 9.1% to 121.3 million soles.
Credicorp booked 441.3 million soles in provisions for loan losses, net of recoveries, down 3.9% from 459.3 million soles in the prior-year period. Operating expenses, however, increased 5.2% to 1.57 billion soles.
Peruvian banking unit Banco de Crédito del Perú contributed 733.2 million soles to the company's overall fourth-quarter profit, down slightly from 740.3 million soles a year earlier.
Credicorp's total credit portfolio expanded 6.0% in the 12 months through December 2017 to reach 100.48 billion soles. Its nonperforming loan ratio was 3.92% in the fourth quarter, compared to 4.03% in the linked quarter and 3.65% a year ago.
The fourth-quarter results helped the company's full-year 2017 attributable profit reach 4.09 billion soles, 16.4% higher than the 3.51 billion soles earned in 2016.
As of Feb. 5, US$1 was equivalent to 3.23 Peruvian soles.
