São Paulo – The Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES, in the Portuguese acrony,) has announced this Friday (28th) that it posted R$ 8.15 billion (US$ 3.47 billion) in net income last year, a similar amount to 2012’s R$ 8.126 billion (US$ 3.46 billion). The bank has also reported that the insolvency rate was the lowest ever at 0.01%.
The BNDES is the leading financier of long-term projects in Brazil, and also retains an important stake in credit supply to foreign trade.
According to the bank, the result in 2013 was underpinned by the growth of Finame, a machinery and equipment financing program intermediated by BNDES-accredited financial institutions. Net income from Finame went from R$ 710 million (US$ 302.5 million) in 2012 to R$ 1.538 billion (US$ 655.3 million) in 2013.
The net income from Finame offset declining gains from the bank’s direct operations, which dropped from R$ 5.393 billion (US$ 2.298 billion) in 2012 to R$ 4.894 billion (US$ 2.085 billion) in 2013. According to the BNDES, the reason was a reduction in spreads levied on lenders.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
