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Best Bank: Banamex |
Latin American regional awards
The growth of the Mexican credit market over the past couple of years is gathering real momentum, and the country’s largest banks have announced ambitious expansion plans as they seek to cash in on it. Last year’s winner of the best bank award, BBVA Bancomer, announced in May that it hoped to grow consumer loans 2.5 times and mortgages three-fold as well as expanding its network of branches and ATMs. The Spanish bank had another strong year, but while its operating income increased, total net income decreased by 1.2%. Citi’s Banamex takes this year’s award for its slightly stronger financial performance, the overall excellence of the bank and for its similarly compelling ambitions. In June it announced plans to hire 1,600 people and open a further 230 branches and consumer finance offices; the move is all the more significant in the light of the restructuring of the whole group announced in April that will involve about 17,000 jobs being cut. It’s easy to see why Mexico is so important to Citi: net income from consumer activities rose 12% year on year to $1.6