Banco de Chile (NYSE:BCH) Q2 2023 Earnings Conference Call August 4, 2023 12:30 PM ET

Company Participants

Rodrigo Aravena - Chief Economist & Institutional Relations Officer

Pablo Mejia - Head of Investor Relations

Daniel Galarce - Head of Financial Control & Capital

Conference Call Participants

Yuri Fernandes - JPMorgan

Juan Recalde - Scotiabank

Tito Labarta - Goldman Sachs

Ernesto Gabilondo - Bank of America

Neha Agarwala - HSBC

Operator

Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to Banco de Chile's Second Quarter 2023 Results Conference Call. If you need a copy of the management financial review, it is available on the company's website. With us today, we have Mr. Rodrigo Aravena, Chief Economist and Institutional Relations Officer; Mr. Pablo Mejia, Head of Investor Relations; and Daniel Galarce, Head of Financial Control and Capital.

Before we begin, I would like to remind you that this call is being recorded and that the information discussed today may include forward-looking statements regarding the company's financial and operating performance. All projections are subject to risks and uncertainties and actual results may differ materially. Please refer to the detailed note in the company's press release regarding forward-looking statements.

I will now turn the call over to Mr. Rodrigo Aravena. Please go ahead, sir.

Rodrigo Aravena

Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for attending this conference call where we will present the main achievements and financial results posted by our bank during the second quarter of this year. We are glad to host this webcast today in a period where Banco de Chile once again showed its unquestionable leadership in the financial industry in the country.

Some of the main highlights of this quarter include, first, we posted the highest net income in the industry by achieving a bottom line of CLP352 billion equivalent to an ROE of 28%, therefore we remain as the most profitable bank in Chile.

Second, despite the weak economic cycle, we continue delivering sound asset quality figures. In the second quarter, we posted a cost of risk of only 0.7% and NPLs of 1.3%, both well below figures posted by the industry. And third, by achieving a CET1 ratio of 15.5%, we continue to be the bank with the sounded capitalization, confirming we are the best prepared for facing a challenging economic cycle and further regulatory requirements in connection with the implementation of Basel III in Chile.

All these results were accomplished in a period when we carry out important advances in our core strategic priorities, including advances in our digital transformation process and in ESG matters. We will present a deep analysis of all these topics through this presentation. But before moving to these topics, I'd like to share our view on the micro-financial environment we have faced in our forecast for these in the following year. Please go to slide number three.