Banco do Brasil has profit of BRL 8.5 billion in the first quarter

Compared to the period from January to March 2022, the bank’s credit portfolio expanded by 16.8% in the first quarter of this year, reaching more than R$ 1 trillion. The biggest growth was in the credit made available to agribusiness, which increased by 26.7%, totaling R$ 322.5 billion.

The president of Banco do Brasil, Tarciana Medeiros, highlighted the importance of the sector for the institution. “We are the leaders in this segment of the economy and we want to have a more prominent position. The numbers demonstrate the priority we give to our partnership with agribusiness: in the current harvest plan, we have already disbursed more than R$ 148 billion, a 30% increase over the previous harvest”, she emphasized in her speech.

Payroll loans are also highlighted in the bank’s strategy. The loan portfolio for individuals expanded by 11.7% between the first quarter of last year and the same period of 2023, reaching R$ 300.1 billion. Of this amount, more than BRL 100 billion are payroll-deductible loans, an increase of 40% compared to 2022, which currently serves 700,000 customers.

The credit portfolio for micro and small companies went from R$92.4 billion in the first quarter of 2022 to R$114.8 billion this year, up 24.2%. Loans to large companies and governments grew 8.1%, and in March reached R$ 247.2 billion.

default

The percentage of customers with debts overdue for more than 90 days rose from 1.89% in March 2022 to 2.62% in March of this year. The index, according to Banco do Brasil, is still lower than the average of 3.3% of the national financial system. At the bank, credit lines for individuals have the highest level of payment problems, with a default rate of 5.39%. “Here at Banco do Brasil we can already see that this default has reached its peak”, said the CFO (financial director) of the institution, Geovanne Tobias, about the portfolio for individuals.

Despite lower defaults in the corporate portfolio – 2.13% in March 2023 against 1.23% in the same month last year – the bank’s management still does not see stability in this segment. “In companies, we did have a continuation of this growth that reflects, mainly in this first quarter, what happened in the funding market for large private securities companies, basically this market stopped. It became more expensive and more difficult for companies to refinance in the capital market”, argued Tobias.

In agribusiness, payment problems remained at a stable level, 0.6% in 2022 and 0.59% this year.

In projections for 2023, Banco do Brasil expects to expand the loan portfolio between 8% and 12%. Estimated adjusted net income for the year ranges from R$33 billion to R$37 billion.