Guatelmala

Awards of Excellence
Latin American regional awards

Banrural was the most profitable bank in Guatemala in April 2007, reporting a profit of $26 million, an increase of 30% on March this year. It was followed by Banco Industrial, which made $21 million, an increase of 30% on March. In April this year, Banrural had a loan book of $1.3 billion, which had increased by $308 million or 30.4% since December. Rival bank Banco Industrial had a bigger loan book of $1.68 billion but had only seen an increase of 7.59% since December. Last year, Banrural’s profitability, as a percentage of total assets, was 1.88%.

In February this year, Banrural received a loan for $85 million from a consortium including the Inter-American Development Bank and Citi, to expand its services in rural areas.

The past year has been a turbulent one for Guatemala’s banks. In October last year, the country’s banking superintendency suspended the operations of Bancafe and, in January, those of Banco de Comercio, for breaking banking rules.

It also fined the banks Banco de Exportación, Banco Inmobiliario y la Financiera Latinoamericana more than $10,000 each, for violating banking regulations.