On the Profits and Losses of Banks in Colombia.

According to the latest results published by the entity in charge of supervising the financial system for the month of july, the bank with the highest profits was Bancolombia with $3.3 billion (b), more than 4 times the profits of the second place bank, Banco de Bogotá with $0.7 b, followed by others such as Citibank $0.4 b, Davivienda $0.3 b and Banagrario $0.23 b

Likewise, the banks with the most assets (credit and investment portfolio) are Bancolombia $210 b, Davivienda $139 b, Banco de Bogotá $125 b and BBVA $101 b. As for liabilities (savings accounts, CDT and current account) the main ones are Bancolombia $210 b, Davivienda $125 b, Banco de Bogotá $109 b and BBVA 95 b.

The banks that had losses as of july are mainly BBVA -$0.25b, Bancamía -$0.2b, Banco Popular -$0.17b, Banco Pichincha -$0.16b and Scotiabank -$0.12b. Of these banks that have losses, those with the most assets are BBWA $101b, Scotiabank $39b and Banco Popular $30b; those with the least are Banco Pichincha $3b and Bancamía $2b. Also, of these banks with losses, those with the most liabilities are BBVA $95b, Scotiabank $36b and Banco Popular $27b; those with the least are Bancamía $2b and Banco Pichincha $3b.

Also, of the banks with losses announced above, those with the most assets are BBVA $6b, Scotiabank $3b and Banco Popular $2b: and those with the least are Bancamía $0.2b and Banco Pichincha $0.2b.

When comparing the performance of these banks with losses with a year ago, the result was the following in july 2.023. BBVA profits $0.1b, Bancamía profits $0.003b, Banco Popular losses -$0.3b, Banco Pichincha losses -$0.08 and Scotiabank losses -$0.15b.

With all the above, some observations are the following. The total profits of the banks in july were $4.6b and Bancolombia represents 72% of that total and added Bancolombia and Banco de Bogotá represent 87% of those profits.

The total assets of the banks were $964b of which Bancolombia represents 22% and that bank together with Davivienda, Banco de Bogotá and BBVA represent 60% of the total banking assets.

In terms of assets and liabilities, the main banks are Bancolombia, Banco de Bogotá, Davivienda and BBVA, and among the banks with losses mentioned above, one of the largest in terms of assets and liabilities is BBVA, but there are also other banks with losses, such as Bancamía and Banco Pichincha, which have the lowest levels of assets, liabilities and equity.

Banco Popular, Banco Pichincha and Scotiabank have maintained losses both in july of last year and in july of this year, while BBVA and Bancamía went from profits last year to losses this year in that month of july.

As was shown before, in the banking sector there is concentration in a few banks in terms of profits, assets and liabilities, but there are also banks with the lowest levels of assets, liabilities and equity that, on the contrary, have losses. This disparity between banks is an objective for public policy in order to increase the entry of new entities, prepare the ground for greater free competition between them and minimize the risk on the part of the financial consumer.

It should be noted that other non banking financial entities have the following profit or loss results as of july of this year. Among the financial corporations are Corficolombiana with profits of $0.2b and Credicorp with profits of $0.008b. Among the commercial financing companies Rappipay stands out with -$0.012b in losses and Tuya (from Éxito stores) with -$0.12b in losses.

 Among the special official institutions are Fogafín with profits of $0.7b, Fondo Nacional del Ahorro of $0.2b, Icetex of $0.007b and Fondo Nacional de Garantías of $0.2b.