Net operating income was $69,995 million, 23% higher, compared to the $56,870 million recorded in the same period of the previous year.
Interest income for the quarter reached Ch$66,503 million, 4% higher than the Ch$64,098 million recorded in the first quarter of 2021. This increase was the result of higher interest on public securities of Ch$8,531 million (421%), offset by lower interest from loans and other financing for $5,922 million (11%), mainly documented loans for $1,131 million (5%) and credit cards for $1,625 million (14%) and mortgage loans for $1,271 million (20%).
Bad debt charges for the quarter increased to $2,202 million, $840 million (62%) higher than those recorded in the same quarter of the previous year.
Employee benefits totaled $8,685 million, with a decrease of $726 million (8%) compared to the same quarter of 2021, mainly due to the 6% reduction in staff. In the first quarter of 2022, its staff fell to 5,260 against the 5,602 employees it maintained in the first quarter of 2021.
This is also linked to the lower number of physical branches, since in the quarter under analysis there were 310 in relation to the 327 branches that remained open in the same period last year.
Financing
Regarding financing to the private sector, $677,839 million were reached, registering a decrease of 10% compared to the same moment of the previous year. This is mainly due to the decrease in loans in pesos for $28,333 million (5%) and to a greater extent to the drop in foreign currency for $32,040 million (43%).
On the other hand, there was a marked increase in the net exposure to the public sector, which reached $550,792 million, with an increase of 23% in the last twelve months, as a result of greater holdings of other public securities.
Excluding instruments issued by the BCRA (Leliq) and repo transactions, the net exposure to the public sector was $300,588 million, equivalent to 19% of total assets, while as of the first quarter of 2021 said exposure was $107,250 million, representing 7% of total assets.
Regarding deposits, they amounted to $1,134,371 million in the quarter, registering a decrease of 2% compared to the first quarter of the previous year. This decrease was due to lower deposits in savings accounts in foreign currency of $37,290 million (23%) and a decrease in other deposits in foreign currency of $15,005 million (22%), offset by an increase in other deposits in pesos of $24,102 million. (26%).
Source: Ambito
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