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Costa Rica |
Costa Rica’s sale of a 30-year bond in April this year raised some eyebrows, given the country has big fiscal challenges; the timing was before a new government had been formed and articulated its economic strategy to the market. However, strong demand for the issue shows the economy’s good fundamentals, and the new president could be successful in delivering renewed GDP growth.
The performance of Scotiabank Costa Rica gives its management hope that it can build a strong franchise in the country. The bank grew profits by 66% and reported market-leading improvements in return on equity (10.2% – up from 6.2% the previous year) and return on assets (1.57%, up from 1.04%). The bank’s efficiency ratio remains weak but that is due to its relatively small scale; future growth should enable an improvement on the current 76.8%