Brazil's Banco do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul SA nearly doubled its net income for the first quarter as the bank registered higher net interest and fee income, as well as lower provisions.
Banrisul, as the bank is known, booked net income of 244.0 million reais in the quarter, 89.8% more than the 128.5 million reais earned a year ago. Earnings per share rose to 59 centavos in the period from 31 centavos a year earlier.
The bank's net interest income for the first quarter rose 9.3% to 1.35 billion reais from 1.23 billion reais in the same period last year. The lender's net interest margin stood at 8.37%, down from 9.21% in the linked quarter but up from 8.31% in the year-ago period.
Financial income for the quarter slid to 2.14 billion reais from about 2.58 billion reais, while financial expenses dropped 35.9% to 1.10 billion reais from about 1.72 billion reais last year.
Banrisul's income from services and fees during the three-month period jumped 12.0% to 465.2 million reais from 415.5 million reais in the year-ago period.
Allowance for loan losses slid 18.8% to 304.9 million reais from 375.7 million reais a year ago, while recurring administrative expenses inched 5.0% higher to 930.4 million reais.
Banrisul's total credit portfolio at the end of March 2018 held about 31.78 billion reais, slightly up from 30.54 billion reais in the same period in 2017. Loans 90 days past due made up 3.43% of the credit portfolio during the quarter, down from 3.56% in the linked quarter and 4.97% in the prior-year period.
Return on average assets hit 1.4% in the quarter, up 30 basis points from last year. Return on average equity during the three-month period was at 14.4%, up from 11.8% in the same period in 2017.
In reporting guidance for 2018, the bank said it expects its credit portfolio to increase between 5% to 9%, "based on improvements in credit growth rates, reflecting the recovery of household consumption after a long period of stagnation."
As of May 11, US$1 was equivalent to 3.60 Brazilian reais.
