Santander Brasil's Q3 profit grows, beats profit estimate

SAO PAULO: Banco Santander Brasil SA on Tuesday beat analysts' estimates for third-quarter net income helped by trading gains and smaller-than-expected loan losses.

Profit rose 5.3% to 3.902 billion reais ($694 million) and topped Refinitiv estimates by 47%.

Loan-loss provisions fell 5.7% from a year earlier to 2.916 billion reais.

Quarter on quarter they fell 55.4% after it set aside 3.2 billion reais in the second quarter, bracing for the coronavirus crisis.

Its 90-day loan delinquency ratio was down 0.3 percentage point, at 2.1%, although its early default ratio jumped 0.4 percentage points, showing the first signs of how consumers and companies are struggling to pay debts after grace periods ended.

The bank is more exposed to consumer lending than its private-sector peers, but has provisioned less than rivals.

Its loan book grew 3.8%, driven by credit lines extended to small companies, partially secured by the government, and by mortgages and car loans.

Return on equity was at 21.2%, returning pre-pandemic levels. CEO Sergio Rial said in a statement that the bank has managed problematic loans well despite the crisis.

Banco Santander SA's third-quarter profit fell 18% from a year earlier, the bank said on Tuesday, adding it would aim to save 1 billion euros in Europe by 2022.