By Ken Parks for Wsj.comBanco Macro SA one of Argentina's biggest private-sector banks, said Friday it expects its loan portfolio to expand at a more subdued pace of 30% this year.
"The segments that we believe that will drive this growth will be pretty similar to what we saw in 2010. [Consumer lending] will continue to be strong and we see also some lending to companies," Chief Financial Officer Jorge Scarinci said in a conference call with investors.
Loans to the private sector, which represent the vast bulk of the bank's overall credit portfolio, increased 42% on the year to ARS15.74 billion at the end of December. Credit expansion was led by personal loan balances, which increased 45% to ARS5.8 billion, and credit card loans, which soared 63% to ARS1.55 billion.
Scarinci saw little room for further improvements in asset quality after nonperforming loans as a percentage of total loans fell to 2.1% at the end of 2010 from 3.2% a year earlier.
Argentina's banks enjoyed a stellar year in 2010 as the economy grew about.. Read Full Story
