Bladex announces 1Q25 Net Profit of $51.7 Million, or $1.40 per share, resulting in an annualized return on equity of 15.4%

Rhea-AI Summary

Bladex (NYSE: BLX) reported strong Q1 2025 financial results with a net profit of $51.7 million ($1.40 per share), achieving a 15.4% annualized ROE. Total revenues increased 7% YoY to $77.9 million, driven by a 4% rise in Net Interest Income to $65.3 million and 12% growth in Fee Income to $10.6 million. The bank reached a new record Credit Portfolio of $11.95 billion (+22% YoY), with Commercial Portfolio at $10.69 billion (+23% YoY). Asset quality remained strong with 97.9% of credits in low-risk category. The bank maintained healthy capital ratios with Tier 1 Basel III at 15.1% and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.625 per share. Deposits reached an all-time high of $5.86 billion, representing 57% of total funding sources.

Positive

• Net profit increased 1% YoY to $51.7 million with strong 15.4% ROE
• Total revenues grew 7% YoY to $77.9 million
• Fee income increased 12% YoY to $10.6 million
• Credit Portfolio reached new record of $11.95 billion (+22% YoY)
• Excellent asset quality with 97.9% of portfolio in low-risk category
• Strong deposit growth to record $5.86 billion (+24% YoY)

Negative

• Net Interest Margin declined to 2.36% from 2.47% YoY due to lower market rates
• Efficiency ratio weakened to 26.9% from 25.2% YoY due to increased headcount
• Provision for credit losses increased to $5.2 million from $3.0 million YoY

Insights

Financial Analyst

Bladex delivered modest profit growth with significant balance sheet expansion while maintaining excellent asset quality and healthy capital ratios.

Bladex posted Q1 2025 profits of $51.7 million, up just 1% year-over-year, while achieving a solid 15.4% return on equity. The modest bottom-line growth masks substantial business expansion, with total revenues increasing 7% to $77.9 million and the credit portfolio reaching a record $11.95 billion (+22% YoY).

Net interest income grew 4% to $65.3 million, driven by volume growth rather than margin improvement. The net interest margin actually compressed to 2.36% from 2.47% a year ago due to "lower market rates coupled with increased USD market liquidity driving competitive pricing." This margin pressure helps explain why substantial portfolio growth has translated into only modest profit gains.

Fee income stands out as a bright spot, increasing 12% year-over-year to $10.6 million, reflecting successful cross-selling and new client acquisition. The efficiency ratio of 26.9%, while slightly higher than last year's 25.2%, shows disciplined expense management despite investments in technology and increased headcount.

Asset quality remains exceptional with 97.9% of the portfolio classified as low-risk and impaired credits representing just 0.1% of total exposures. The 5.3x reserve coverage for impaired credits provides a substantial cushion against potential losses.

The funding profile continues to strengthen with deposits growing 24% year-over-year to $5.86 billion, now representing 57% of total funding. Capital ratios remain solid though slightly diluted due to the significant balance sheet growth, with the Tier 1 ratio at 15.1% compared to 16.3% a year ago.

The quarterly dividend remains stable at $0.625 per share. The bank's results reflect a trade-off between aggressive portfolio growth and near-term profitability, as Bladex scales its operations while navigating a more competitive pricing environment in Latin America.

PANAMA CITY, May 5, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S.A. (NYSE: BLX, "Bladex", or "the Bank"), a Panama-based multinational bank originally established by the central banks of 23 Latin-American and Caribbean countries to promote foreign trade and economic integration in the Region, announced today its results for the First Quarter ("1Q25") ended March 31, 2025.

The consolidated financial information in this document has been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS") as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board ("IASB").           

Financial & Business Highlights

• Solid quarterly trend profitability, with Net Profits of $51.7 million in 1Q25 (+1% YoY), fostered by strong top-line performance, as total revenues increased +7% YoY.  Annualized Return on Equity ("ROE") reached 15.4% in 1Q25.
• Net Interest Income ("NII") increased 4% YoY to $65.3 million in 1Q25, mainly driven by the constant increase in business volumes. Net Interest Margin ("NIM") stood at 2.36% in 1Q25 on the impact of lower market rates coupled with increased USD market liquidity driving competitive pricing.
• Fee Income remained strong at $10.6 million for 1Q25 (+12% YoY), stemming from the successful cross-sell initiatives, streamlined processes and new client onboardings.
• Well-managed Efficiency Ratio of 26.9% for 1Q25, despite increased headcount and ongoing investments in technology and business initiatives related to the Bank's strategy execution.
• New all-time high Credit Portfolio at $11,950 million as of March 31, 2025 (+22% YoY), resulting from:
  • Commercial Portfolio EoP balances reaching a new record level of $10,686 million at the end of 1Q25 (+23% YoY), as the Bank continued experiencing strong credit demand and business growth from new client onboarding and product cross-selling.
  • Investment Portfolio amounted to $1,264 million (+15% YoY), mostly consisting of investment-grade securities outside of Latin America held at amortized cost to further enhance country and credit-risk exposure diversification and provide contingent liquidity funding.
• Healthy asset quality, with most of the credit portfolio (97.9%) remains low risk or Stage 1 at the end of 1Q25. Impaired credits or Stage 3 exposures stood at $17 million or 0.1% of total Credit Portfolio, with a robust reserve coverage of 5.3x.
• Continued expansion of the Bank's deposit base, reaching all-time high of $5,859 million at the end of 1Q25 (+24% YoY), representing 57% of the Bank's total funding sources. The Bank also counts on ample and constant access to interbank and debt capital markets.
• Strong Liquidity position at $1,852 million, or 15% of total assets as of March 31, 2025, mainly consisting of deposits placed with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (67%) and highly rated U.S. banks (23%).
• The Bank´s Tier 1 Basel III Capital and Regulatory Capital Adequacy Ratios stood at 15.1% and 13.5%, respectively, enhanced by strong earnings generation and within the Bank's risk appetite.

 

Financial Snapshot
(US$ million, except percentages and per share amounts)	1Q25	4Q24	1Q24
Key Income Statement Highlights
Net Interest Income ("NII")	$65.3	$66.9	$62.9
Fees and commissions, net	$10.6	$11.9	$9.5
Gain (loss) on financial instruments, net	$2.0	($0.6)	$0.2
Total revenues	$77.9	$78.4	$72.6
Provision for credit losses	($5.2)	($4.0)	($3.0)
Operating expenses	($21.0)	($22.9)	($18.3)
Profit for the period	$51.7	$51.5	$51.3
Profitability Ratios
Earnings per Share ("EPS") (1)	$1.40	$1.40	$1.40
Return on Average Equity ("ROE") (2)	15.4 %	15.5 %	16.8 %
Return on Average Assets ("ROA") (3)	1.8 %	1.8 %	1.9 %
Net Interest Margin ("NIM") (4)	2.36 %	2.44 %	2.47 %
Net Interest Spread ("NIS") (5)	1.65 %	1.69 %	1.80 %
Efficiency Ratio (6)	26.9 %	29.2 %	25.2 %
Assets, Capital, Liquidity & Credit Quality
Credit Portfolio (7)	$11,950	$11,224	$9,789
Commercial Portfolio (8)	$10,686	$10,035	$8,690
Investment Portfolio	$1,264	$1,189	$1,099
Total Assets	$12,395	$11,859	$10,688
Total Equity	$1,371	$1,337	$1,238
Market Capitalization (9)	$1,360	$1,309	$1,082
Tier 1 Capital to Risk-Weighted Assets (Basel III – IRB) (10)	15.1 %	15.5 %	16.3 %
Capital Adequacy Ratio (Regulatory) (11)	13.5 %	13.6 %	13.7 %
Total Assets / Total Equity (times)	9.0	8.9	8.6
Liquid Assets / Total Assets (12)	14.9 %	16.2 %	16.5 %
Credit-impaired Loans to Loan Portfolio (13)	0.2 %	0.2 %	0.1 %
Impaired Credits (14) to Credit Portfolio	0.1 %	0.2 %	0.1 %
Total Allowance for Losses to Credit Portfolio (15)	0.8 %	0.8 %	0.7 %
Total Allowance for Losses to Impaired credits (times) (15)	5.3	5.0	6.9

Recent Events

Quarterly dividend payment: The Board of Directors approved a quarterly common dividend of $0.625 per share corresponding to 1Q25. The cash dividend will be paid on June 3, 2025, to shareholders registered as of May 16, 2025.

Annual Shareholders' Meeting Results: At the Annual Shareholders' Meeting held on April 29, 2025, in Panama City, Panama, shareholders:

• Elected Ms. Tarciana Paula Gomes Medeiros as Director representing the holders of Class "A" shares of the Bank's common stock,
• Reelected Mr. Ricardo Manuel Arango and Mr. Roland Holst, and elected Mrs. Angélica Ruiz Celis, as Directors representing the holders of Class "E" shares of the Bank's common stock,
• Approved the Bank's audited consolidated financial statements for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024,
• Ratified KPMG as the Bank's independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2025,
• Approved, on an advisory basis, the compensation of the Bank's executive officers.

Notes

• Numbers and percentages set forth in this earnings release have been rounded and accordingly may not total exactly.
• QoQ and YoY refer to quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year variations, respectively.

Footnotes

1. Earnings per Share ("EPS") calculation is based on the average number of shares outstanding during each period.
2. ROE refers to return on average stockholders' equity which is calculated based on unaudited daily average balances.
3. ROA refers to return on average assets which is calculated based on unaudited daily average balances.
4. NIM refers to net interest margin which constitutes to Net Interest Income ("NII") divided by the average balance of interest-earning assets.
5. NIS refers to net interest spread which constitutes the average yield earned on interest-earning assets, less the average yield paid on interest-bearing liabilities.
6. Efficiency Ratio refers to consolidated operating expenses as a percentage of total revenues.
7. The Bank's "Credit Portfolio" includes (i) loans – principal balance, which excludes interest receivable, allowance for loan losses, and unearned interest and deferred fees (or the "Loan Portfolio"); (ii) principal balance of securities at FVOCI and at amortized cost, which excludes interest receivable and allowance for expected credit losses (or the "Investment Portfolio"); and (iii) loan commitments and financial guarantee contracts, such as confirmed and stand-by letters of credit and guarantees covering commercial risk and other assets consisting of customers' liabilities under acceptances.
8. The Bank's "Commercial Portfolio" includes loans – principal balance (or the "Loan Portfolio"), loan commitments and financial guarantee contracts, such as issued and confirmed letters of credit, stand-by letters of credit, guarantees covering commercial risk and other assets consisting of customers' liabilities under acceptances.
9. Market capitalization corresponds to total outstanding common shares multiplied by market close price at the end of each corresponding period.
10. Tier 1 Capital ratio is calculated according to Basel III capital adequacy guidelines, and as a percentage of risk-weighted assets. Risk-weighted assets are estimated based on Basel III capital adequacy guidelines, utilizing internal-ratings based approach or "IRB" for credit risk and standardized approach for operational risk.
11. As defined by the Superintendency of Banks of Panama through Rules No. 01-2015, 03-2016 and 05-2023, based on Basel III standardized approach. The capital adequacy ratio is defined as the ratio of capital funds to risk-weighted assets, rated according to the asset's categories for credit risk. In addition, risk-weighted assets consider calculations for market risk and operating risk.
12. Liquid assets consist of total cash and due from banks, excluding time deposits with original maturity over 90 days and other restricted deposits, as well as corporate debt securities rated A- or above. Liquidity ratio refers to liquid assets as a percentage of total assets.
13. Loan Portfolio refers to loans – principal balance, which excludes interest receivable, allowance for loan losses, and unearned interest and deferred fees. Credit-impaired loans are also commonly referred to as Non-Performing Loans or NPLs.
14. Impaired Credits refers to Non-Performing Loans or NPLs and non-performing securities at FVOCI and at amortized cost.
15. Total allowance for losses refers to allowance for loan losses plus allowance for loan commitments and financial guarantee contract losses, allowance for investment securities losses and allowance for cash and due from banks losses.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements of expected future developments within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as: "anticipate", "intend", "plan", "goal", "seek", "believe", "project", "estimate", "expect", "strategy", "future", "likely", "may", "should", "will" and similar references to future periods. The forward-looking statements in this press release include the Bank's financial position, asset quality and profitability, among others. These forward-looking statements reflect the expectations of the Bank's management and are based on currently available data; however, actual performance and results are subject to future events and uncertainties, which could materially impact the Bank's expectations. Among the factors that can cause actual performance and results to differ materially are as follows: the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and geopolitical events; the anticipated changes in the Bank's credit portfolio; the continuation of the Bank's preferred creditor status; the impact of increasing/decreasing interest rates and of the macroeconomic environment in the Region on the Bank's financial condition; the execution of the Bank's strategies and initiatives, including its revenue diversification strategy; the adequacy of the Bank's allowance for expected credit losses; the need for additional allowance for expected credit losses; the Bank's ability to achieve future growth, to reduce its liquidity levels and increase its leverage; the Bank's ability to maintain its investment-grade credit ratings; the availability and mix of future sources of funding for the Bank's lending operations; potential trading losses; the possibility of fraud; and the adequacy of the Bank's sources of liquidity to replace deposit withdrawals. Factors or events that could cause our actual results to differ may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all of them. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required by law.

About Bladex

Bladex, a multinational bank originally established by the central banks of Latin-American and Caribbean countries, began operations in 1979 to promote foreign trade and economic integration in the Region. The Bank, headquartered in Panama, also has offices in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and the United States of America, and a Representative License in Peru, supporting the regional expansion and servicing its customer base, which includes financial institutions and corporations.

Bladex is listed on the NYSE in the United States of America (NYSE: BLX), since 1992, and its shareholders include: central banks and state-owned banks and entities representing 23 Latin American countries; commercial banks and financial institutions; and institutional and retail investors through its public listing.

Conference Call Information

There will be a conference call to discuss the Bank's quarterly results on Tuesday, May 6, 2025, at 11:00 a.m. New York City time (Eastern Time). For those interested in participating, please click here to pre-register to our conference call or visit our website at http://www.bladex.com. Participants should register five minutes before the call is set to begin. The webcast presentation will be available for viewing and downloads on http://www.bladex.com. The conference call will become available for review one hour after its conclusion.

For more information, please access http://www.bladex.com or contact:

Mr. Carlos Daniel Raad
Chief Investor Relations Officer
Tel: +507 366-4925 ext. 7925
 E-mail: craad@bladex.com / ir@bladex.com

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bladex-announces-1q25-net-profit-of-51-7-million-or-1-40-per-share-resulting-in-an-annualized-return-on-equity-of-15-4-302446407.html

SOURCE Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S.A. (Bladex)

FAQ

What was Bladex's (BLX) earnings per share in Q1 2025?

Bladex reported earnings of $1.40 per share in Q1 2025, maintaining stable performance year-over-year.

How much did Bladex's (BLX) credit portfolio grow in Q1 2025?

Bladex's credit portfolio grew 22% year-over-year to reach a new all-time high of $11.95 billion as of March 31, 2025.

What dividend did Bladex (BLX) declare for Q1 2025?

Bladex declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.625 per share for Q1 2025, payable on June 3, 2025, to shareholders of record as of May 16, 2025.

What was Bladex's (BLX) Return on Equity in Q1 2025?

Bladex achieved an annualized Return on Equity (ROE) of 15.4% in Q1 2025.

How strong is Bladex's (BLX) asset quality in Q1 2025?

Bladex maintained strong asset quality with 97.9% of its credit portfolio in low risk (Stage 1), and only 0.1% in impaired credits with 5.3x reserve coverage.