Colombia’s financial institutions posted a combined net profit of 3.58 trillion Colombian pesos ($1.97 billion) during the first seven months of the year, up 15% from the same period in 2009, the country’s banking regulator said Wednesday.
The increase was due to higher revenue from lending, the regulator said.
Locally owned private-sector banks reported COP2.23 trillion in profits in the first seven months of the year, up from COP1.96 trillion in the same period in 2009.
Net profit at Bancolombia SA, the country’s largest bank by assets, rose 7.7% to COP667 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 COP447 billion, up 11% from the same period in 2009, when it booked a net profit of COP404 billion.
The country’s third-largest bank, Banco Davivienda, booked a net profit of COP301 billion in the period from January through July this year, up 14% from COP263 billion in the period in 2009. Davivienda is in the process of holding an initial public offering on the local stock exchange.
Among foreign-owned banks, the local unit of Spain’s Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA earned COP280 billion, up from COP242 billion. The local unit of Spain’s Banco Santander SA reported its net profit rose 11% to COP65 billion from COP59 billion.
The local unit of U.K. bank HSBC PLC posted a net loss of COP23 billion. The loss compares with a net loss of COP7.7 billion in the first seven months of 2009.
The local unit of Citigroup Inc. reported a profit of COP93 billion, 39% lower than in the same period a year ago. (Inti Landauro / Dow Jones Newswires)