Sbif: System lending up 12% in Jan

The Chilean financial system reported total lending of 38.5tn pesos (US$68.4bn) at the end of January 2005, a 12% year-on-year increase, according to a banking regulator Sbif report. "January figures were very strong in terms of lending and profitability, though I don't see this month as representing a trend for the year," senior banking analyst André Bergoeing at Chilean stock brokerage Larraín Vial told BNamericas. Commercial lending rose 7.4% to 19.4tn pesos, while consumer lending increased 18.9% to 3.9tn pesos. Santander Santiago (NYSE: SAN) led the system in terms of total lending with 8.8tn pesos in January, followed by Banco de Chile (NYSE: BCH) at 6.7tn pesos and state-bank BancoEstado with 5.1tn pesos in total loans. "Banco de Chile's figures for loan growth were extremely good in January, and we expect BCH to lead the market in 2005 in terms of profitability," Bergoeing said. "This year will be strong for Chilean banks, though figures may not be as high as 2003 and 2004. As interest rates continue to increase, banks will see a small drop in lending, but after readjustment we expect total loans to grow some 10-11% this year," he said. The system's net profits rose 16% to 70.1bn pesos through January this year compared to the same month 2003. Sbif reported a 6.1% year-on-year increase in the financial system's operating result to 227bn pesos in January.