Banco BBVA Argentina S.A. (NYSE:BBAR) Q1 2023 Results Conference Call May 24, 2023 11:00 AM ET

Company Participants

Carmen Morillo Arroyo - CFO

Inés Lanusse - IRO

Belén Fourcade - Investor Relations

Operator

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for waiting. At this time, we would like to welcome everyone to BBVA Argentina's First Quarter 2023 Fiscal Year Results Conference Call. We would like to inform you that this event is being recorded and all participants will be in listen only mode during the Company’s presentation. After the Company’s remarks are completed there will be a question-and-answer session. At that time, further instructions will be given [Operator Instructions].

First of all, let me point out that some of the statements made during this conference call may be forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions found in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 under US Federal Securities Law. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. Additional information concerning these factors is contained in BBVA Argentina's Annual Report on Form 20-F for the Fiscal Year 2022 filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Today with us, we have Mrs. Carmen Morillo Arroyo, CFO; Ms. Inés Lanusse, IRO; and Ms. Belén Fourcade, Investor Relations.

Ms. Fourcade, you may now begin your conference.

Belén Fourcade

Good morning, and welcome to BBVA Argentina's first quarter 2023 fiscal year results conference call. Today's webinar will be supported by a slide presentation available on our Investor Relations Web site on the Financial Information section. Speaking during today's call will be Inés Lanusse, our Investor Relations Officer; and Carmen Morillo Arroyo, our Chief Financial Officer, who will be available for the Q&A session. Please note that starting January 1, 2020, as per Central Bank regulation, we have begun reporting results applying hyperinflation accounting pursuant to IFRS rule IAS 29. For ease of comparability, 2022 and 2023 figures have been restated to reflect the accumulated effect of inflation adjustment for each period through March 31, 2023. Now let me turn the call over to Inés.

Inés Lanusse

Thank you, Belén, and thank you all for joining us today. As we are all aware, in spite of a less favorable global context and a local environment characterized by a difficulty of correcting current macroeconomic distortion and of meeting the established objectives in the loan agreement reached in March of last year with an international monetary fund, economic activity has shown dynamism in 2022. GDP grew 5.2% in 2022 and would fall 2.5% in 2023, according to BBVA research. Nonetheless, the global context, high local inflation, financial volatility, the limited leeway to adopt new stimulus measures and uncertainty about economic policy in a presidential election year legitimate expectations of a contraction of GDP in 2023. Referring to BBVA's Argentina performance, a better operating income as of March 2023 was a product of an improvement in interest income boosted by the loan portfolio. BBVA Argentina has a corporate responsibility with society, inherent to the bank's business model, which bolsters inclusion, financial education and support scientific research and culture. The bank works with the highest integrity, long term vision and best practices and is present through the BBVA Group in the main sustainability indexes.