Combined 2012 profit for Chilean banks and financial
institutions declined 7% year-on-year to a consolidated 1.623
trillion pesos ($3.44 billion), the SBIF local banking regulator
said Thursday.
Low inflation, which ended 2012 at 1.5%, well below the central
bank's 3% inflation target, coupled with higher provisions,
deteriorated banks' earnings.
The banking-sector profit included figures from CorpBanca SA's
(BCA, CORPBANCA.SN) Colombian unit, which the Chilean bank acquired
from Spain's Banco Santander SA (SAN, SAN.MC) last year. This year,
CorpBanca will add a new bank to its operations in Colombia as it
seals the purchase of Colombian Helm Bank SA (PFHELMBAN.BO).
Excluding CorpBanca's Colombian unit, the banking sector
consolidated 2012 profit was CLP1.604 trillion, a 9% decline when
compared with 2011.
Total loans, excluding CorpBanca SA's Colombian division,
reached CLP100.01 trillion in 2012, up 9.5% year-on-year, with
consumer loans at the end of the year totaling CLP12.846 trillion,
an increase of 9%. Mortgage lending, meanwhile, gained 8%
year-on-year to CLP24.381 trillion.
The Chilean financial system's average net return on equity
after taxes reached 14.47% for the year, below the 17.75% obtained
in 2011.
Consolidated 2012 net profit at the country's largest bank in
terms of loans, Banco de Chile (BCH, CHILE.SN), reached CLP465.85
billion, while its closest competitor, Banco Santander-Chile (BSAC,
BSANTANDE.SN) reported CLP392.59 billion in net profit for the
year.
The SBIF didn't provide comparative data from the previous
nine-month period for individual banks.
State-owned BancoEstado, meanwhile, posted an annual profit of
CLP89.12 billion while Banco de Credito e Inversiones's (BCI.SN)
profit totaled CLP271.26 billion.
CorpBanca's profit, which included the returns from its
operations in Colombia, was CLP120.12 billion, according to
SBIF.
-Write to Carolina Pica at carolina.pica@dowjones.com