By Andre Romani
SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazilian state-run lender Banco do Brasil posted on Wednesday an 8.3% increase in its third-quarter adjusted net profit from a year earlier, while it also said it now expects higher loan-loss provisions for this year.
Banco do Brasil posted an adjusted net profit for the quarter ended in September of 9.5 billion reais ($1.6 billion), while analysts polled by LSEG had expected a 9.4 billion reais profit.
WHY IT'S IMPORTANT
Banco do Brasil is one of Latin America's largest lenders by total assets.
BY THE NUMBERS
The lender's return on equity, a gauge of profitability, stood at 21.1%, down from 21.3% a year earlier and 21.6% in the second quarter.
Banco do Brasil's total loan book rose 13% year-on-year to 1.2 trillion reais, while its delinquency ratio for loan payments overdue by more than 90 days was at 3.3%, up from 3% in the second quarter and 2.8% a year earlier.
The firm also said it now expects to put aside more funds to cover unpaid loans, raising its full-year provision forecast to between 34 billion reais and 37 billion reais, up from its previous projection of 31 billion reais to 34 billion reais.
Provisions jumped 34% in the third quarter.
The bank did trim its estimated administrative spending for the year, now seeing it between 5% to 7% higher than last year, down from the previously projected 6% to 10% growth.
($1 = 5.8061 reais)