BRADESCO: Profit Grows 10.9% In 4Q17, In Line With Market Estimates

(RTTNews) - Brazilian bank Bradesco's recurring net income increased 10.9% on year in the fourth quarter of 2017 to R$ 4.862 billion (US$ 1.54 billion) - a slightly lower result than the average market estimate of R$ 4.894 billion.

Bradesco's accounting profit, which includes the positive and negative effects of non-recurring events, rose 5.6% in the same period to R$ 3.792 billion. In 2017, Bradesco's recurring profit increased 11.1% to R$ 19.024 billion, while non-adjusted income fell 2.8% to R$ 14.659 billion.

Expenses with provisions for loan losses decreased by 16.3% in the fourth quarter compared to the same period of the previous year, to R$ 4,622 billion, while the balance of those provisions reached R$ 36.527 billion, a 10.3% drop.

Bradesco's annualized return on equity totaled 18.1% in 2017, an increase of 0.5 percentage point (pp) compared to the fourth quarter of the previous year. Credit operations fell 4.3% to R$ 492.931 billion.

The delinquency ratio fell 0.8 pp in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, to 4.7% of the total loan portfolio. In comparison with the third quarter, there was a 0.1 pp decrease.