The default of private individuals and the Americanas crisis impact the result, 7.3% lower than in 2021
The three largest private banks in the country ended 2022 with a net profit of 64.3 billion reais, according to data compiled by the Stadium/Broadcast. The result was 7.3% lower than that recorded in 2021, a year in which the financial sector was still suffering from the effects of the covid-19 pandemic on economic activity. It is a reflection of the “hangover” of defaulting on contracts with private individuals, aggravated by the judicial recovery of the Americans.
Of this group, Bradesque AND Santander they are the banks most exposed to the company and have set aside different portions of their exposures. Santander has set aside 30% of what the retailer owes it, while Bradesco has set aside the entire exposure, which has led to the bank’s operation ending the fourth quarter of 2022 in the red.
With this provision, the bank adhered to the Itauwhich also covered the entire exposure to the company already present in the financial statements closed last year, and isolated the projections and the operation for this year from the effect of a judicial reorganization which blocked the negotiations.
“We are talking about a public company, with an audited balance sheet, competent controllers. Fraud was not something expected,” Itaú president Milton Maluhy said at a news conference. According to him, the bank has not identified similar weaknesses in other companies managing the withdrawn risk, a financial operation that was the cause of the BRL 20 billion shortfall that led Americanas to judicial recovery. In the risk drawn, the bank is the one that makes the payment of the suppliers to the company.
Santander has also not identified widespread problems and continues to operate the line, but admitted that given the stage of negotiations, it is difficult to predict how much credit will be provided. “It is difficult to predict the measure of this case. It will depend on the renegotiation, on the progress of the recovery,” said the president of the bank, Mario Leão.
In common, in their results reports, press conferences and conference calls, none of the banks mentioned Americanas by name, for reasons related to banking secrecy.
Individuals
The difference between the three banks’ results was in the retail operation. While Santander and Bradesco have seen a more accelerated rise in insolvencies from this audience, which includes individuals and smaller businesses, Itaú has seen a more modest decline. More exposed to higher income individuals, the bank has been able to balance margin growth with risk containment.
Even so, Maluhy said the year isn’t one of big adventures in lending. “We have reduced the pace of growth of the portfolio, in some portfolios with more emphasis. Offshore in the cards, we have reduced concessions by 90%,” he said, noting that “there is, at this moment, a revision of the propensity to increase the risk”.
In a note, the president of Bradesco, Octavio de Lazari Junior, highlighted that the bank tends to present weaker results in times of high interest rates and inflation, but that it will continue to focus on the same audience. “We are working hard to achieve our goal of at least 18% recurring return,” he said. In the quarter, due to the weight of American stocks and the deterioration of the retail portfolio, the yield was 3.9%.
Source: Terra
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