Snapshot: Uruguay's most profitable banks

The banking industry in Uruguay remained resilient last year to domestic and external shocks despite the country's weak economic performance.

The industry consists of state-run lenders Banco de la República Oriental del Uruguay (BROU) and Banco Hipotecario del Uruguay (BHU), and nine private and foreign players: Banco Santander, Itaú Unibanco, BBVA, Scotiabank, Citibank, HSBC, Banco de la Nación Argentina, Heritage, Bandes Uruguay.

In 2018, banks saw an increase in profitability led by BROU and the local unit of Itaú from Brazil.

The industry's average ROE improved to 18.9% from 11.4% in 2017, according to central bank figures.

ROE of the state-owned banks was 19.7%, up from 11% in 2017, while ROE for private sector lenders was 17.7%, increasing from 12.2%.

The Uruguayan economy slowed last year as it felt the impact of economic problems in neighboring Argentina and Brazil, which suffered from recession and sluggish growth, respectively. The two countries are among Uruguay's largest trading partners.

GDP expanded 1.6% in 2018 compared with an expansion of 2.6% in 2017.

BROU is by far the largest bank in Uruguay, accounting for almost half of all assets in financial system.

BNamericas takes a look at the five most profitable banks in 2018

No 1

The local unit of Itaú posted a ROE of 27.3%, up from 16.2% in 2017.

No 2

BROU saw its ROE improve to 26.9% in 2018, more than double from 11.9% the year before.

No 3

The Uruguayan unit of Citibank reported a ROE of 24.3% last year, down from 38.5% in 2017.

No 4

The local subsidiary of Santander saw its 2018 ROE at 18.8% compared with 14.7% in the year prior.

No 5

BBVA's Uruguayan bank posted ROE of 16.5% in 2018, up from 12.6% in 2017.