Caixa’s president predicts a sharp drop in the bank’s profitability

In the results for the third quarter of 2021 released this Thursday (18), Caixa Econômica Federal reported that it managed to achieve an average return on equity (ROE) of 19.2%, in line with the level observed among peers private.

President of the state-owned bank, Pedro Guimarães predicts that this indicator — which measures how profitable the financial institution’s operations are — should have a very significant drop in the next quarterly balance sheets.

“We expect something close to 12%, clearly, so Caixa will eventually adjust. Our rates are always profitable, now, if lending to the most needy person and to the microenterprise is not so profitable, it’s life as it is. We are going to do it,” stated Guimarães, during a press conference on Thursday to comment on the bank’s results.

The president of Caixa also said that the contracting of real estate credit should not lose strength even in a scenario of high interest rates. “We are month after month with record results [no mercado imobiliário]”, stated Guimarães.

The real estate portfolio is the most representative in the composition of the bank’s total credit portfolio, with a 64.3% share and a balance of R$ 542 billion, an evolution of 8.7% on an annual basis, and a 2.4% increase in the margin .

The president of the state-owned bank highlighted the R$ 1 billion mark in real estate financing reached in mid-September through the Caixa Habitação application.

Guimarães also said that the subsidiary Caixa Participações, the holding responsible for managing the bank’s participation, should have its operations closed in December 2021.

According to him, the bank has carried out in recent years the divestment of companies that had governance problems and were the target of questioning by the TCU (Court of Accounts of the Union), with emphasis on the total divestment of Banco Pan in the second quarter, which generated a result gross of R$ 5 billion with the conclusion of the operation.

“We are going to close a state-owned company,” said Guimarães, adding that, in his opinion, Caixa Par is a company that should never even have been created.

Caixa recorded a profit of R$ 3.2 billion in the third quarter, growth of 69.7% compared to the same period last year, but a drop of 48.8% compared to the immediately previous quarter. “What we expect is to continue with a strong result in the fourth quarter.”