By Natalia Siniawski
MEXICO CITY, July 21 (Reuters) – Mexico’s Grupo Financiero Banorte reported a 6% rise in second-quarter net profit on Tuesday, slightly above estimates, boosted by strong demand for consumer loans and higher fee income.
Net profit reached 15.55 billion pesos ($888.64 million), above an LSEG-compiled estimate of 15.53 billion pesos, as revenues totaled 43.15 billion pesos, up 12% year-over-year and above a forecast of 42.41 billion pesos.
• Banorte named Tomas Lozano as chief financial officer; Rafael Arana, who previously held both the CFO and COO roles, will retain his position as chief operating officer.
• Lozano, a 19-year Banorte veteran who most recently led investor relations, corporate development and financial planning, will report to Arana, the company said in a statement.
• Return on equity expanded to 25.7%, up 209 basis points year-over-year.
• Consumer loan growth led portfolio expansion, with auto and payroll loans each rising 4% sequentially and credit card loans up 2%.
• Net interest income fell 5% from the prior quarter, hurt by lower valuation of inflation-linked securities, though the bank said the effect was offset by adjustments to technical reserves, leaving net income unaffected.
• Provisions fell 12% from the prior quarter following a regulatory adjustment to reserve calculations for government-backed loans implemented in June, though they rose 26% year-over-year in line with portfolio growth.
($1 = 17.4986 Mexican pesos at end-June)
(Reporting by Natalia Siniawski, Editing by Iñigo Alexander)