Local financial groups are interested in negotiating with the U.S. company in order to acquire the consumer banking operation in Nicaragua.
The consumer banking business that will be left behind by Citigroup could return to the hands of Central American companies, as some have expressed interest in acquiring the operation in Nicaragua, although it is not yet known who the interested parties are.
The group has announced that as part of its long-term strategy it will withdraw from the consumer banking business in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Panama, Guatemala and Nicaragua.
Extract from a statement issued by Citigroup:
Citigroup today announced strategic actions to accelerate the transformation of its Global Consumer Banking (GCB) to focusing on those markets where it has the largest scale and growth potential.
In the last year, the sector was characterized by lower loan growth, lower returns and higher funding costs.
Fitch has presented its Special Report on the Central American Banking System, which analyzes the performance of the sector in the period between July 2012 and June 2013.
The rating company highlights:
Low Credit Growth:
The loan portfolios of most banking systems in Central America slowed their growth rates in 2013, in line with the downward revision of the region's GDP. In June 2013, the annual growth of loan portfolios of five Central American countries stood in the range of 6% to 12% in real terms, although it was only 2.2% in Honduras. According to Fitch Ratings, loans in the region will close 2013 with real growth of about 7% (2012: 8.9%). Panama will lead the growth of the loan portfolio, but inflationary pressures throughout the region will be an additional limit to real credit expansion.
Using standardized issuances, the Costa Rican entity intends to raise funds in the financial markets of Nicaragua, El Salvador and Mexico.
The idea "... is to raise funds by issuing securities on the stock exchanges of these countries with the aim being that investors can obtain the funds and channel them into placing loans here," noted an article in Prensalibrecr.com.
The Panamanian bank is continuing its expansion plans in Central and South America.
Multibank, an entity founded on Panamanian capital, intends to consolidate and expand its share of the banking sector in Colombia and Central America, where it has already acquired full control of Macrofinanciera SA (Colombia) and the incorporation of the company Multi Resuelve (Costa Rica), focused on financing the purchase of cars.
Fitch Ratings believes that improving the level of efficiency in the banking system would result in a notable increase in profits.
The required improvements in efficiency in the banking systems in Central America could have a positive impact on earnings, on the internal generation of capital and, ultimately, on risk ratings, according to a report by Fitch Ratings.
A Fitch Special Report indicates better positioning in the face of external uncertainty.
SUMMARY
Strengthened Financial Performance:
The banking systems of Central America and the Dominican Republic (hereinafter the region) will continue to strengthen their financial performance as the region continues to recover its rate of GDP growth, estimated at about 4% by 2012 under Fitch’s baseline scenario.
The Guatemalan bank will invest $20 million in the opening of five agencies in El Salvador.
Luis Lara Groject, Banco Industrial's manager, commented that the opening had been planned for May but the development of information systems took longer than expected.
According to elperiodico.com.gt the new Salvadoran branches will have $20 million worth of capital initially.
Luis Carlos Sarmiento Angulo, one of the richest men on earth, is the owner of Grupo Aval, which controls some of the largest banks in Colombia.
Grupo Aval agreed to purchase 100% of the shares of BAC-Credomatic from GE Capital for $1.9 billion. Currently, GE owns 75% of BAC-Credomatic and agreed to buy the remaining 25% to sell it to Grupo Aval.
Industry insiders were expecting the Colombian group to expand outside of it home nation, as it had no more room to grow in its domestic market.
The leading Central American banks believe that the presence of the Colombian financial holding group will bring greater dynamism to the market.
Nacion.com reports that most bankers drew attention to the group’s size and its success in Colombia.
Armando Arias, president of the Salvadoran banking association (ABANSA), commented that, “the arrival of such a large group is good news for Central America.
Fitch Ratings reported that the risks to regional banks during the current crisis are growing and represent a major challenge for 2009.
The combination of reduced credit expansion, fund restrictions and increasing loan provisions have limited the profits of most banks and it is expected for these factors to continue to pressure the results in the coming months.
Fitch Ratings reported that the risks to regional banks during the current crisis are growing and represent a major challenge for 2009.
The combination of reduced credit expansion, fund restrictions and increasing loan provisions have limited the profits of most banks and it is expected for these factors to continue to pressure the results in the coming months.
The region which produces 13% of the bank's Latin American utilities is seen by the bank as an economic block.
The Guatemalan newspaper Siglo XXI interviewed the CEO of Citi Guatemala, Juan Miró, who reported that they are currently working on optimizing the IT platform in order to better serve the Central American market.
He said that among the options they want to offer regional clients are: "For them to be able to make local and regional transactions as if were a single Citibank Central America bank. For example, they can view their accounts in the region, make fund transfers from one country to the other and pay credit cards from another country in their country of origin; these are services we are already offering but the idea is to make them better."
Central American banks accumulate $61.119 billion in assets, and 55% of its capital is of foreign origin
The blog "From Guatemala" publishes an analysis that describes the different degrees of internationalization of the banking systems of the region, from the Salvadorian banking system, where 95% of assets belong to foreign banks to the cases of the National Bank of Costa Rica and the Industrial de Guatemala, the largest banks of the isthmus, both based on local capital.
From abundance to scarcity: Challenges faced by Central American banks in an
environment of tight liquidity.
After having been hit hard by the US mortgage crisis in 2008, large US and international banks have considerably weakened, in some cases escaping from bankruptcy only thanks to strong government intervention. Such an event has eroded the public’s confidence in the financial system worldwide.