Best bank
Banamex
Best equities house
Citigroup
Best debt house
JPMorgan
Best M&A house
Goldman Sachs
That accolade must go to Citigroup?s Banamex, which showed profits under Mexican GAAP of $948 million in 2003. Banamex doesn?t have the highest return on equity in the country ? at 15.4%, it?s a little higher than Bancomer?s and a lot lower than Santander?s. But that?s largely because of Banamex?s $6 billion capital base rather than any managerial inefficiency.
Banamex also, of course, has all the benefits of having Citigroup as a parent. Citigroup can easily come along and underwrite a $590 million equity offering for cement multinational Cemex. For that, Citigroup wins the award for best equities house in Mexico.
Citigroup also has a strong position in Mexican debt markets but, in a close-run race, JPMorgan wins the best debt house award in Mexico again, for the breadth of the deals it did over the past year.
On the international markets over the last 12 months, JP Morgan reintroduced pay-TV company Innova to the markets after an absence of six years. It lead managed three bonds for Carlos Slim?s telephone companies, Telmex and América Móvil, totalling $2.3