Brazil's Itaú Unibanco Q3 Profit Rose 11.8% as Cost of Credit Fell

Brazil's largest private-sector bank, Itaú Unibanco Holding SA (ITUB), said profit rose 11.8% increase in its third quarter as its cost of credit fell.

The bank said late Monday that its recurring net income was 6.3 billion Brazilian reais for the period ($1.9 billion), up from BRL 5.6 billion a year earlier.

Itaú's cost of credit went down in the quarter due to lower provisions for loan losses, particularly in Brazil, both in the retail and wholesale, in line with the segments' delinquency rates, the bank said.

The reduction of BRL5.67 billion in provisions for loan losses in Brazil in the first nine months of 2017 was the main driver for the lower cost of credit, Itaú said.

Itaú's return on equity, a measure of profitability, rose to 21.6% in the third quarter from 19.9% in the same quarter last year.

Write to Luciana Magalhaes at luciana.magalhaes@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 31, 2017 07:40 ET (11:40 GMT)