Banco Macro (Buenos Aires/NYSE:BMA) posted mixed results in 2Q19.
Although earnings lie 124% on top of 2Q18 figures, they lie 4% below the previous quarter’s profit, which included the effect of the Prisma transaction.
Excluding such one-off result, QoQ earnings growth stood at 37%.
As it has been the case in recent quarters, a relevant portion of 2Q18 profit stemmed from the interest obtained from Central Bank Leliqs, while the financial margin from the commercial banking side remains on a negative trend.
This way, securities income (+376% YoY; 57% QoQ) accounts today for 48% of the bank’s financial income, while loan interest income (41% YoY; 2% QoQ) accounts for just 46%, with a growth pace well below inflation.
The above-mentioned performance reflects a credit market that remains stagnant.
While deposits rose 4% between quarters, private-sector credit showed no growth.
In terms of asset quality, the ratio of non-performing loans to total credit stood at 2.1% as of June 2019 (1.4% in 2Q18; 2% in 1Q19), with loan-loss coverage of 116%.