Peru benefits from a stable but highly concentrated banking sector. Data collected by The Banker reveals the major players.
Peru has established itself as a source of economic growth and stability in the Andean region, maintaining an average growth-rate of 5%-plus since 2001. The mining-dependent economy has been hit by the slump in commodity prices in recent years, but in 2016 it managed to grow a respectable 3.9%.
Peru’s well-capitalised and well-managed banking sector, dominated by a handful of homegrown and foreign lenders, has played no small part in the country’s success.
The biggest bank by some stretch is Banco de Credito del Peru (BCP) which holds $39.737bn in assets and $2.849bn Tier 1 capital. Next is BBVA Continental, the local subsidiary of Spanish major Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, which holds $23.775bn of assets.
Together, these two lenders account for nearly 57% of Peru’s banking assets tracked by The Banker Database.
Third is the local subsidiary of Canada’s Scotiabank, which has expanded rapidly throughout Latin America in recent years, which owns assets worth $16.765. It is followed by Banco Internacional del Peru (Interbank) with $12.152 in assets.
The fifth, Banco de la Nacion, is some way behind in terms of size, but has outclassed its bigger rivals when it comes to profitability. In The Banker’s latest Latin American bank rankings, San Isidro-headquartered Banco de la Nacion placed fourth in the table for return-on-capital with a ratio of 62.08%.
Citibank’s local subsidiary, which is Peru’s eighth biggest bank by assets, topped the regional ranking for return-on-capital with a whopping 68.81%.
All data sourced from www.thebankerdatabase.com
