- Holding financiero foresees a favorable environment for the country given the low probability that a strong El Niño Phenomenon will occur.
- Lower interest rates and government initiatives to drive mining and infrastructure projects will also set the bases for a gradual recovery in economic activity this year.
- Thanks to Yape’s growth in the Peruvian market, this business expects to hit break-even in 2024. At the end of 2023, Yape’s user base topped 14.2 million.
Lima, February 9, 2024.- During its quarterly presentation to investors, Credicorp Group, Peru’s leading financial holding with a presence in Colombia, Chile, Bolivia and Panama, announced positive results for its diversified business platform. These achievements were driven, in large part, by a successful digital transformation strategy.
Credicorp Group, which is comprised of BCP, BCP Bolivia, Mibanco, Mibanco Colombia, Grupo Pacífico, Prima AFP, Credicorp Capital and Krealo, presented results from 2023, registered net income of S/ 4865.5 million (approximately US$1,311.8 million) and an ROE of 15.8%.
César Ríos, CFO of Credicorp, indicated the company’s results in the latter portion of the year continued to demonstrate resilience in a context marked by a stronger-than-expected GDP contraction. “We maintained capital levels above internal targets in our Peruvian banking businesses and have made progress in implementing strategic investments to strengthen our competitive position,” said Mr. Ríos.
In terms of its Outlook for Peru, the financial holding projected growth of 2.5% for the economy in 2024. “Going forward, we foresee a more favorable environment given that the probability of a strong El Niño Phenomenon this summer is low. This, coupled with lower reference rates and government initiatives to drive projects in the mining and infrastructure sectors, will set the stage for gradual economic recovery in 2024,” according to the CFO.
Digital Transformation
Ríos indicated that in the fourth quarter of 2023, considerable progress was made on the digital transformation front. Monetary and non-monetary transactions through digital channels at BCP grew 116.5% and 87.8%, respectively. This quarter, 56% of the monetary transaction amount was cashless and 61% of the sale of financial products in Retail Banking at BCP was conducted through digital channels.
Gianfranco Ferrari, CEO de Credicorp, share that thanks to Yape’s growth in the Peruvian market, the business expects to reach break-even in 2024. The results show that at the end of 2023, Yape’s user base topped 14.2 million, who engaged in more than 2,918 transactions, which represented growth of 143% versus 2022.
In the fourth quarter of 2023, using the new functionalities added to Yape, 4.6 million users made 50.7 million mobile top-offs and 18.1 million service payments. Additionally, more than 139 thousand transactions were made through Yape’s new currency tool. Finally, 285.5 thousand microloans were disbursed for a total of S/65.3 million.
As part of the Group’s plan to continue investing in disruptive technology and initiatives, Ferrai highlighted the progress made by Tenpo, Credicorp’s Fintech in Chile (part of the Krealo portfolio), which is expected to become the country’s first digital bank in 2025.
Sustainable Impact
At the end of 2023, Credicorp continued to drive environmental sustainability from the financial sector and ESG risk management fronts. It published its first TCFD (Task force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosure), which describes the measures adopted to June 2023 under the holding’s environmental strategy. The document also addresses matters related to climate change in ambits such as corporate governance, business strategy, operations, risks and metrics at both the corporate and subsidiary levels.
On the social front, BCP continued to drive improvements in the financial behavior of 214 thousand clients thanks to its education initiatives on the Business front. Mibanco trained more than 13 thousand representatives from more than one thousand social organizations through its Mujeres Poderosa program. Prima AFP relaunched its educational web “Ahorrando a Fondo,” while Pacífico provided training for humanitarian aid management in districts at higher risk of suffering significant impacts from the El Niño Phenomenon.
Organizational Changes At the end of the presentation, Gianfranco Ferrari spoke of upcoming organizational changes at the holding, which will go into effect on July 1, Alejandro Pérez-Reyes, who is currently Chief Operating Officer at Credicorp, will be the new Head of Planning and Finance at BCP and Credicorp (CFO). He will be replacing César Ríos, who will leave his position as CFO to assume the role of Head of Risk Management at BCP and Chief Risk Officer (CRO). Reynaldo Llosa, who is currently Head of Risk Management at BCP and CRO of Credicorp (positions to be assumed by César Ríos) , will be retiring after 30 years of impeccable service.
