Itaú-Unibanco, Brazil’s largest private sector bank by assets, predicted lending could surge as much as 20 per cent this year but dismissed concerns that a credit bubble may be forming in the country’s booming economy. The São Paulo-based lender trumped its rivals on Tuesday by posting the highest yearly profit in the sector’s history thanks to strong demand for loans from Brazilian companies and the country’s ever richer consumers.
But Roberto Setúbal, chief executive, rejected recent comments from some economists that lending could be growing too fast in Latin America’s biggest economy.
“I’m not seeing anything getting out of control,” Mr Setúbal told reporters on Tuesday. “Relative to the size of the Brazilian economy, the volume of credit is still very small ... and the potential for growth is enormous.”
Itaú’s results round off a record earnings season for the country’s major banks. Last week, government-controlled Banco do Brasil, Latin America’s largest bank by assets, reported 2010 net income of R$11.7bn after its credit portfolio grew 20.8 per cent in 2010. Two weeks earlier, Bradesco, the second-biggest private bank, beat analyst forecasts when it reported net income had surged by 25.1 per cent over the year to R$10bn.
source ==> http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ec57faa4-3eab-11e0-834e-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1FBCF0F8f
By Samantha Pearson in São Paulo
Published: February 22 2011 18:22 | Last updated: February 22 2011 18:22
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