THIRD QUARTER 1997 (Lima, Peru, October 30, 1997) - Credicorp, Ltd. ("Credicorp") (NYSE:BAP;LSE:BAPC1) today announced its financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 1997. Credicorp announced net income of US$26.5 million for the quarter ended September 30, 1997, 17.0% below US$31.9 million in the third quarter of last year, resulting in earnings per share of US$0.360 and US$0.434, respectively. Net income for the nine month period ended September 30, 1997, was US$86.5 million, 4.0% below US$90.1 million in the same period of 1996, resulting in earnings per share of US$1.176 and US$1.224, respectively. Decreased third quarter net income is partly explained by an extraordinary non-recurring expense of US$7.9 million, net of provisions, related to retirement of personnel as part of a wider cost reduction effort. The effect of the extraordinary charge on Net Income, after Income Taxes, was US$5.0 million. Net Income for the third quarter of 1997 without this one-time effect would have been US$31.5 million, similar to the same quarter of the previous year.
(1) Based on 73.59 million outstanding shares in all periods. Following a share dividend in March 1997, the total number of shares outstanding increased to 85.80 million. However, as 12.21 million are held by affiliates as treasury shares, the net consolidated outstanding shares are 73.59 million, increasing from 61.32 million net shares before the dividend. During the third quarter of 1997, return on net average shareholders equity ("ROE") was 15.0% (17.8% without the extraordinary charge), compared to 20.7% in the same period of 1996, on an annual basis. Return on average total assets ("ROA") was 1.5% (1.8% without the extraordinary charge) during the third quarter of 1997, compared to 2.2% in the same period of 1996, annualized. |