Latin America Bank Profits: Brazil Falls

Bank profits grow in Mexico, Chile, Colombia and Argentina

BY LATINVEX STAFF

Brazilian banks saw a steep decline in profits last year, while their counterparts in Mexico expanded strongly, according to a new Latinvex ranking of Latin America’s banks based on data from Economatica.

Meanwhile, Chilean bank profits grow strongest among banks in the top six economies of Latin America, followed by Argentina and Colombia, while banks in Peru overall saw a decline.

Itau Unibanco, Latin America’s and Brazil’s largest private bank, posted the strongest real growth in profits, while Telefonica Finanzas Mexico, the bank of Spain-based Telefonica in Mexico, saw the strongest percentage growth.

All in all, Brazil’s top banks posted an average decline of 199 percent to $20.5 billion, while Mexican banks saw their profits grow an average of 341 percent to $9.2 billion.  Chilean bank profits grew even faster – by an average of 653 percent to $4 billion, while Colombian bank profits increased an average of 17 percent to $2.8 billion and Argentina bank profits grew an average of 58 percent to $2.2 billion.

Peruvian bank profits, however, saw an average decline of 36 percent to $1.8 billion.

THE NUMBERS

Latin America’s Most Profitable Banks

Latin America Banks (2014): Profit Growth Winners & Losers

Latin America’s Top Banks By Income


Argentina Banks (2014): Profit Winners & Losers

Brazil Banks (2014): Profit Winners & Losers

Chile Banks (2014): Profit Winners & Losers

Colombia Banks (2014): Profit Winners & Losers

Mexico Banks (2014): Profit Winners & Losers

Peru Banks (2014): Profit Winners & Losers