SANTIAGO, Chile, Oct. 29, 2009 (PR Newswire Europe) --
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Banco Santander Chile (NYSE: SAN; SSE: Bsantander) announced today its
unaudited results for the third quarter of 2009. These results are reported
on a consolidated basis in accordance with Chilean GAAP (1)(2) in nominal
Chilean pesos.
In 3Q09, net income attributable to shareholders totaled Ch$109,901
million (Ch$0.58 per share and US$1.11/ADR). These results represent an
increase of 2.3% compared to 2Q09 (from now on QoQ) and a decrease of 16.9%
compared to restated 3Q08 figures (from now on YoY). Compared to historical
figures (not adjusted for the new accounting standards(3)), net income
attributable to shareholders increased 13.9% YoY in 3Q09.
With these results, the Bank's ROAE in the quarter reached 28.8%. The
Bank currently has the highest ROE among the banks operating in Chile. This
strong profitability was achieved despite having one of the highest levels of
capitalization in the Chilean financial system. As of September 30, 2009, the
BIS ratio reached 15.2% and a Tier I ratio of 11.2%.
In 3Q09, total loans increased 1.4% QoQ. The pickup in economic growth
has led to a rebound in loan volumes, especially in higher yielding retail
banking activities. The Bank launched in the quarter its Reactivate!
(Reactivate) program with the pre-approval of approximately US$ 7 billion in
loans for clients. As a result, consumer and residential mortgage loans
increased 1.6% QoQ and lending to SMES rose 2.2% in the same period.
In 3Q09, the Bank's net provision expense decreased 17.6% QoQ and
increased 9.1% YoY. On a QoQ basis, asset quality indicators began to show
signs of improvements, especially among individuals. Non-performing loans
(NPLs) decreased 7.7% QoQ. The coverage of NPLs rose from 75.7% in 2Q09 to
88.2% in 3Q09. The coverage of consumer NPLs reached 252.6% as of September
2009.
In 3Q09, net interest income was down 4.1% QoQ and 13.7% YoY. The Bank's
net interest margin reached 5.7% in the quarter compared to 6.0% in 2Q09 and
6.9% in 3Q08. The lower margin was mainly due to the lower spread earned over
the non-interest bearing deposits as a result of the lower interest rate
environment and the higher deflation in the period. The Bank maintains
long-term assets (mainly medium and long-term financial investments) that are
denominated in Unidades de Fomento (UFs), an inflation indexed unit, which
are partially funded with nominal or non-interest bearing peso short-term
deposits. Deflation was -0.47% in 3Q09 compared to -0.13% in 2Q09 and +3.63%
in 3Q08. The negative effects of deflation were partially offset by the
Bank's focus on spreads and lower provision expense. Net interest income net
of provisions was up 5.8% QoQ.
Net fee income increased 2.6% QoQ and 6.0% YoY in 3Q09. Solid fee growth
from credit card and asset management fees were among the main drivers of fee
income growth. Fees from credit, debit and ATM cards increased 14.7% QoQ and
32.7% YoY. The rise in fees from this business reflects the launch of three
new successful credit card products in 2009. Fees from asset management
increased 10.8% QoQ and 8.9% YoY.
