BCP’s profit drops 77% in the first quarter
BCP recorded a net profit of 35 million euros in the first quarter, a fall of 77% explained by the impact of the pandemic. The Bank set aside 79 million in provisions to face the crisis.
BCP saw its first quarter results affected by the new coronavirus pandemic: it made a profit of 35.3 million euros, a 77% drop compared to the same period last year. Anticipating the effects of the crisis, the bank has already raised 78.8 million in provisions.
Despite the fall, the result came out better than expected by the market, with CaixaBank/BPI analysts pointing to an 85% drop in profits, to 23 million euros.
In a press conference, Miguel Maya said the bank changed its focus in times of pandemic. “We’ve shifted the focus from growth to defending the balance sheet. The bank’s defence has become the main concern,” he stressed.
“Out of prudence and in anticipation of a severe crisis, the bank set aside 78.8 million. These are generic provisions, and we consider them to be adequate from a prudent perspective. It will depend a lot on the situation of lockdown and economic recovery,” Miguel Maya said.
“The bank is going into this crisis very differently from the previous crisis,” Maya assured, pointing to a CET1 capital ratio of 12%, plus 3.2 points concerning regulatory requirements.
The bank’s financial margin grew 6.3% to 385.5 million euros. Commission income grew almost 8% to Euro 179.8 million. Even so, banking income stabilised at 597.8 million euros.
The BCP also announced that loans to customers increased by 8.1% to reach a portfolio of 52.5 billion euros at the end of March. This while deposits rose 8.9% to 62 billion.
In Portugal, the business recorded a profit of 16.2 million euros, below the 94.3 million achieved in the same period of 2019, “mainly due to the impact of the provision for risks associated with the Covid-19 pandemic, amounting to 60 million euros.”
The international activity profited 19.1 million euros, a result which compares with the 46.1 million euros from last year, “due in large part to the provision for risks related to the Covid-19 pandemic, amounting to 18.8 million euros (13.8 million euros in the Polish subsidiary and five million euros in the subsidiary in Mozambique).”
