Bancolombia Full-Year 2023 Net Income Dips 9.8% Year-on-Year

Medellin-based multinational banking giant Bancolombia announced February 20 that its full-year 2023 net income fell 9.8% year-on-year, to COP$6.1 trillion (US$1.55 billion), from COP$6.78 trillion (US$1.7 billion) in 2022.

Meanwhile, annualized return on equity at the consolidated level came-in at 16.1% for full-year 2023, according to the company.

Gross loans stood at COP$254 trillion (US$65.7 billion), down 5.9% compared to 2022.

“The appreciation of the Colombian Peso against the U.S. dollar was 20.5% during the year. When excluding the currency exchange effect, the credit portfolio would have grown 1.5%,” according to the company.

Meanwhile, “30-day past due loans stood at 5.01% and 90-day past due loans at 3.28%,” representing “credit cycle deterioration experienced during the year,” the company added.

Shareholders’ equity also dipped 2.6% year-on-year, “largely explained by the revaluation of the Colombian peso against the dollar and the restatement of foreign subsidiaries balances,” according to Bancolombia.

As for its digital banking expansion, “Bancolombia maintains a positive trend in line with 2023 results. As of December 2023, the bank has 8.4 million digital customers in the retail app (active over a period of three months), as well as 25 million accounts in its financial inclusion platforms (6.4 million users in ‘Bancolombia a la Mano’ and 18.6 million in ‘Nequi’).

At year-end 2023, “Banco Agricola operations in El Salvador, Banistmo in Panama and BAM in Guatemala represented 24.8% of total gross loans,” according to Bancolombia.

“Gross loans denominated in currencies other than COP — generated by operations in Central America, the international operation of Bancolombia Panamá, Puerto Rico and the U.S. dollar-denominated loans in Colombia — accounted for 30.5% of the portfolio, and decreased 1.3% in the quarter when expressed in U.S. dollars.

“The loan book on a consolidated basis posted a sustained decrease during all quarters of the year. For 4Q 2023 particularly, the lower portfolio balance in foreign currency and the revaluation of the Colombian peso against the dollar explained such variation by the restatement of foreign subsidiaries balances.

“The retail portfolio denotes the largest quarterly reduction on a consolidated basis, mainly because of Bancolombia S.A.

“Personal loans present the largest decrease in 4Q 2023. Commercial loans contracted to a greater extent, due to the operation in Bancolombia Panama and the slowdown in foreign currency originations from corporate clients.”

Meanwhile, the corporate-wide mortgage portfolio “maintains a steady growth and is the only segment that reflects an increasing volume in all geographies,” according to the company.

“Amid a better liquidity position and a slow dynamic in loan growth, the bank has reduced its appetite for higher-cost sources of deposits. Savings accounts remained as the main source of funding, increasing their share to 39% of the total amount.”

As of year-end 2023, Grupo Bancolombia boasts of having more than 30 million customers, including Colombia’s largest private-sector bank, El Salvador’s leading financial conglomerate (Bagricola S.A.), international banking and local banking subsidiaries in Panama, Guatemala, Cayman and Puerto Rico.