Colombia’s financial institutions posted a combined net profit of 4.17 trillion pesos ($2.32 billion) during the first eight months of the year, a 7% increase from the same period in 2009, the country’s banking regulator said Thursday.
The increase was due to higher revenue from lending, the regulator said.
Locally owned private-sector banks reported COP3.25 trillion in profits in the first eight months of the year, up from COP3.03 trillion in the same period in 2009.
Net profit at Bancolombia SA, the country’s largest bank by assets, rose 9%, to COP750.7 billion. The net profit figure includes only Bancolombia and not its subsidiaries in Colombia and abroad.
Banco de Bogota, the country’s second-largest bank, posted a net profit of COP581.9 billion, up 20% from the same period in 2009, when it booked a net profit of COP459.8 billion.
The country’s third-largest bank, Banco Davivienda, booked a net profit of COP352.8 billion in the period from January through August this year, up 14% from CO309.6 billion in the period in 2009. Davivienda’s shares started trading Tuesday on the local stock exchange.
Among foreign-owned banks, the local unit of Spain’s Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA earned COP319.7 billion, up from COP280.6 billion. The local unit of Spain’s Banco Santander SA reported its net profit rose 13.7%, to COP68.7 billion from COP60.4 billion.
The local unit of U.K. bank HSBC PLC posted a net loss of COP36.17 billion. The loss compares with a net loss of COP11.6 billion in the first eight months of 2009.
The local unit of Citigroup Inc. reported a profit of COP104 billion, 33% lower than in the same period a year ago. (Darcy Crowe / Dow Jones Newswires)