Brazil Raises Interest Rates by 0.75%; Brazilian Banks Have Solid Record Profits

Brazil raised is interest rates yesterday by 0.75%, and the Brazilian Real skyrocketed, as we discussed here a few weeks ago. In the meantime, its banks are reporting very solid profits and growth.

Bradesco, which trades in new York as ticker BBD, just had its highest profit in history among private banks traded in Brazil. The bank's profit of R$2.1B in the first quarter of 2010 is just below only the profits of the Bank of Brazil in 2008 and 2006.

Its profit rose 9.8% in the first quarter. Bradesco has less bad debt in 12 months.

The bank also occupies the fourth position in the ranking of the biggest profits in history. The only other banks in the list of top 10 is Itau/Unibanco, which also trades in new York under symbol ITUB.

Santander (BSBR) of Spain, and the 2nd largest bank in Europe (after HSBC), also reported a growth in profits of 6%, to USD 2.94B. The biggest increase? Its Brazilian operations, with growth of 38%.








Disclaimer: The author is long ITUB.