Faced with a slowdown in the growth rate of the loan portfolio expected for 2022, the president of BB (Banco do Brasil), Fausto Ribeiro, said that the institution will focus its operations this year on lines of greater risk and profitability, to maintain the operation profitability.
“We are going to explore more profitable lines. The idea is to invest a lot in non-account holders”, said Ribeiro this Tuesday (15), when commenting on the results of the state-owned bank in the fourth quarter and in the consolidated year of 2021.
In this sense, the president of BB mentioned the Non-Consigned Direct Consumer Credit (CDC) and the credit card among the lines that should receive greater focus by the bank in the coming months.
Ribeiro added that the control of administrative expenses will also play an important role in the bank’s work to achieve the goals set for the year.
The bank also predicts that the expected macroeconomic environment ahead, as well as the strategy of seeking greater profitability in riskier lines, should lead to an increase in default levels.
“Our result will be very much guided by this change in the mix of the credit portfolio. With this, we obviously expect that, with lines that will bring a greater risk-adjusted return, we will have a gradual increase in the delinquency ratios, but well below the observed historical averages”, said Ana Paula Teixeira, vice president of internal controls and risk management.
In contrast to private peers who have seen the arrears rate increase over the last few months, BB’s over 90-day default rate ended last December at 1.75%, a drop of 0.15 percentage point compared to the same period in 2020 and of 0.07 point compared to September 2021.
BB recorded adjusted net income of R$ 21 billion in 2021, a growth of 51.4% compared to 2020.
For 2022, the bank projects an adjusted net income of between R$23 billion and R$26 billion.
The state-owned loan portfolio ended December at R$ 874.9 billion, up 17.8% on an annual basis and 7.4% on a quarterly basis.
In line with private peers, the bank projects a slowdown in the growth rate of the portfolio this year, between 8% and 12%.
“The growth of the portfolio is adequate to the scenario we see for 2022”, said José Ricardo Forni, vice president of financial management and investor relations at BB.
“The bank proved to be resilient in a period of increased delinquency and credit tightening”, says Rodrigo Crespi, market analyst at Guide Investimentos. “The bank’s result came beyond what we expected and we believe it will also be well received by the market.”
BB’s shares began this Tuesday’s session with a strong rise on the Brazilian Stock Exchange, B3. At around 10:40 am, the shares were up 5.55%, trading at R$35.40. At the same time, the Ibovespa advanced 0.33%.
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