Colombia’s largest bank, Bancolombia, said Monday its third-quarter net profit fell 12% from a year earlier to 321 billion Colombian pesos (US$163 million).
The Medellin-based bank attributed the decline to lower loan volumes and lower interest rates.
Bancolombia’s net interest income in the third quarter fell 8% compared with the same period a year ago to COP849 billion.
Bancolombia’s third-quarter net profit was in line with the median forecast of COP315 billion expected by six analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires last week.
The bank’s revenues from fees and services fell 3% to COP369 billion.
The bank’s total net loan portfolio fell 1.7% compared with the end of the third quarter 2008 to COP39.79 trillion.
The bank’s New York-traded shares rose 1.9% Monday to $42.13. Bancolombia released its earnings report after the market closed.