Itaú's profit rose 3.4% to 25.7 billion rubles in 2018

Itaú Unibanco announced Monday a net profit of 6.478 billion RB in the fourth quarter of last year, an increase of 3.15% over the previous year, R 6.280 billion dollars . Compared to the previous three months, when the figure was 6.454 billion rubles, the increase was 0.4%.

For the year ended 2018, Itaú's recurring net income amounted to R $ 25.733 billion, an increase of 3.43% compared to 2017, when It was R $ 24.879 billion.

Itaú Unibanco's net profit for the fourth quarter of 2018 was in line with market expectations. The average figure, according to the six rooms consulted by Previous Broadcast (BTG Pactual, Eleven Financial, Citi, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Safra), showed a profit of R $ 6.683 billion.

Itaú posted an 11.0% growth in pre-tax profit and minority interests in 2018 due to lower cost of credit due to the improved risk of wholesale bank customers. It should also be noted the increase in revenue from services rendered, partially offset by the increase in operating expenses (not related to interest).

"The year 2018 was remarkable for Itaú Unibanco, not only because of the good financial results we have achieved, but also because we have begun to realize the initiatives that will lead us to achieve our long-term goal, which will guide our investments and initiatives before: being a customer-focused bank, "says Itaú President Candido Bracher in a press release.

Itaú's loan portfolio, including financial guarantees and private securities, reached R $ 636.9 billion at the end of 2018, an increase of 6.1% over the previous year. same period in 2017. In the third quarter, the balance was 0.1% higher. In a report accompanying its financial statements, the Bank reports the performance of the Personal sector, which grew by 10.3%, and the micro, small and medium enterprises sector, with a growth of 14.4%.

Despite lower margins for the year, the bank notes that the increase in credit volume and the improvement in the product mix resulted in a 2.2% increase in net interest income with customers compared to 2017.

Itaú closed December with total badets of R1650 billion, up 9.7% year-on-year. Compared to September, the increase was 2.3%.

The bank's equity rose to R $ 131.757 billion in the fourth quarter, an increase of 3.8% year-on-year and 5.4% quarter-on-quarter. The Itaú yield (ROE) was 21.8% at the end of December against 21.3% at the end of September and 21.9% a year earlier. In 2018, it was 21.9% against 21.8% in 2017.

Credit Portfolio

Itaú Unibanco expects its entire loan portfolio to increase from 8% to 11% this year. The growth range is higher than in 2018, when the bank increased its borrowings by 6.1%, in the estimated range of 4% to 7% of the consolidated concept. In Brazil, it increased by 4.2%, from 4% to 7%.

In terms of financial margin with customers, capital gain on credit transactions, the bank expects to grow from 9.5% to 12.5% ​​this year compared to 2018, both at the consolidated level than in Brazil. In the case of the financial margin with the market, which mainly reflects the cash operations, Itaú forecasts a range from 4.6 billion to 5.6 billion R $ in the consolidation and from 3.6 billion to 4 R $ , 6 billion in Brazil.

Itaú expects its cost of credit, which includes the result of credit losses, write-downs and rebates, to increase from $ 14.5 billion to $ 17.5 billion in consolidation. In Brazil, the estimated range is 12.5 billion rand to 15.5 billion rand.

In terms of revenue from services rendered, the bank expects to grow from 3% to 6% in both the consolidated operations and Brazil. As for operating expenses (non-interest expenses), the bank expects an increase of 5% to 8% in consolidation and from 5.5% to 8.5% in Brazil.

The effective rate of income tax and social contributions should be from 31% to 33% in the consolidation and from 32% to 34% in Brazil.