Nicaragua

Awards of Excellence
Latin American regional awards

Banco de la Producción

(Banpro) has focused on consolidating its leadership as the largest financial institution in Nicaragua, while becoming one of the most profitable banks in the country. At the end of December 2006, Banpro reached $830 million in assets, equivalent to 28% of the country’s total assets and 16% of its nominal GDP. Despite the uncertainty generated by the general elections held in November 2006, profits grew strongly during the year.

Net profits grew 28% compared with the previous year. The bank’s return on assets reached 2.5%, the second highest in the industry, while its return on equity, at 29.3%, was the highest.

Banpro has expanded its client base by allocating more than 50% of new loans to small and medium-sized enterprises, rising by more than four times the amount of family remittances paid through the bank, by increasing the number of remittance agencies that work with Banpro, and by obtaining more long-term funding for mortgages and for SMEs.

In May this year, Banpro got together with local telecoms group Enitel to launch a new credit card called Claro Premia, which is expected to be taken up by 40,000 customers this year (raising the total number of Banpro credit card holders to 300,000).