When Banco Bradesco posted third-quarter results in November, most people focused on the impressive headline figures. After all, profits had nearly doubled year on year, as had earnings. All product areas, including retail and corporate banking, asset management and insurance, had produced positive results. Tucked away in the middle of the report, though, was one line acknowledging disappointment. More than that it also provided a clue as to where the bank will focus a large part of its attention in coming months. “Referring to large corporates,” it read, “a 3.1% decrease in the loan portfolio was recorded in the last 12 months... mainly due to the appreciation of the real against the US dollar, besides [which] these companies are currently well capitalized and opting for raising funds through the capital markets.”
It’s the last part of that statement that stands out and its significance is not lost on Márcio Cypriano, Bradesco’s president. Speaking to Euromoney the week before the report was released, Cypriano acknowledged that the capital markets present a big opportunity for Latin America’s biggest bank, whose strengths lie more in retail and corporate banking.
“When you analyse capital markets, our performance is similar to [local] peers’,” he says.