Walter Bayly: BCP rides the Peruvian wave

BANCO DE CRÉDITO del Peru is one of Latin America’s most successful local banks. In 2008, it reported a 27.7% growth in profits as Peru’s economy managed to withstand the global economic storm. This year the performance of both the Andean country’s economy and BCP have been more muted, with the bank’s earnings likely to be flat. Still, chief executive Walter Bayly is confident about BCP’s outlook for next year. He notes that Peru’s GDP, to which the bank’s earnings are highly correlated, should grow by about 5% in 2010 compared with 1.8%