Fresh news from Reuters reveal that the Brazilian banks are in extremely good shape, thank you very much…
Brazil’s two largest private-sector banks reported strong third-quarter earnings on Monday and said they would continue to take advantage of the current market turmoil to snap up loan portfolios from smaller rivals in distress.
Banco Bradesco (BBDC4.SA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Banco Itau (ITAU4.SA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) sought to allay concerns that they might be vulnerable to the recent devaluation of the Brazilian real BRBY against the U.S. dollar by disclosing their exposure to foreign currency derivatives.
Both banks have benefited from surging demand for consumer loans in Brazil’s fast-growing economy at a time when the global credit crunch has pummeled financial firms from the United States to Europe.
Strong loan growth helped Bradesco (BBD.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the top private-sector bank in Brazil, post a 3.2 percent increase in third-quarter net profit to 1.91 billion reais ($823.3 million).
Itau (ITU.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) was not scheduled to report earnings until Nov. 4 but rushed out its results because of the turmoil in financial markets. It posted a quarterly profit of 1.8 billion reais ($775.9 million), up 14.6 percent from a year earlier.
Read the full article here.
