While Colombian banks are gaining ground in central America, locally owned banks are still scoring well in this year's Top 100 ranking of central American banks. 

Top 10 central American banks

The presence of Colombian banks in central America has become stronger than ever thanks to a series of acquisitions and continued commitment to the region, in stark contrast to the gradual withdrawal of some international players.

Previous leader HSBC slipped to fourth place after selling its regional operations outside Panama to Colombia’s Banco Davivienda. The deal cleared the way for Banco de Bogotá’s BAC International to move into first place as the largest banking group in central America by Tier 1 capital.

BAC also shows the largest pre-tax profits in the ranking at $360.75m and a healthy 34.33% return on capital. The Panama-based group consolidates all BAC operations in the region, which include Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua and Guatemala.

Banco Davivienda has operations in El Salvador, Costa Rica, Honduras and Panama, with the El Salvador operation the highest in the ranking in 18th position. Bancolombia, which, like BAC, consolidates its operations under the Panamanian business, sits in fifth position and has a presence in El Salvador too with Banco Agricola in 10th position.

Colombia’s growth

Despite Colombia’s forceful growth in the region, locally owned banks are still scoring well. Second and third place of the ranking are taken by Panamanian lenders Banco General and Bladex, with Tier 1 capital of $933.2m and $825.5m, respectively. Further, Panama’s GNB Sudameris Bank – a new entrant – displays the most improved Tier 1 capital, which at $85.3m is more than six times higher than last year's figure, when the bank did not make the top 100. Balboa Bank, also of Panama, tops the list of assets growth, having more than tripled its assets to $424.1m.

Sixth and seventh positions in the regional ranking are occupied by Costa Rica’s largest lenders, Banco Popular and Banco Nacional, which improved their standing since last year’s eight and 10th places, thanks to larger Tier 1 capital – $642.1m and $568.9m, respectively.

Similarly, Guatemala’s top scorer, Banrural, improved its place in the ranking because of a larger capital base, and is now in 11th position.

Panama is the unchallenged leading banking centre of the region, hosting a total of $91.1bn in bank assets. Lenders based in the country have combined Tier 1 capital of $8.12bn and pre-tax profits totalling $1.72bn. Costa Rica and Guatemala follow with aggregate assets of $31.5bn and $24.5bn, respectively.

The Guatemalan operations of Mexico’s Banco Azteca display the highest return on capital and return on assets in the region, at an enormous 96.1% and 13.5%, respectively. The bank closed 2012, the latest reported financial year, with $22.8m pre-tax profits on a $23.73m Tier 1 capital and $168.9m worth of assets.

Banco Azteca Guatemala is a new entrant to the ranking, thanks to a 69.11% Tier 1 capital expansion, which placed it 90th in the regional list. Also new to the list are Balboa Bank (in 84th place), Banco Promerica Guatemala (94th), Banco Ficohsa Guatemala (98th), and Banco de Antigua, another Guatemalan business, owned by Canada’s Scotiabank, which just made the cut in 100th position.

The Banker's Top 100 central American banks ranking, 2014 originally appeared in the March 2014 issue of the magazine. The full results of the ranking are available on The Banker Database. Find out more about the database, register for a free trial or subscribe today.

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