Banco do Brasil sees profit fall 67% in a quarter with rising default rates

The result mainly reflects the increase in expenses with losses in credit operations, given the worsening of default rates, especially in the agribusiness and wholesale segments.

The bank's expenses with credit risk reached R$21.234 billion in the quarter, an increase of 14.9% compared to 2Q26 and 18.4% in the annual comparison. This indicator brings together the amounts that the institution reserves to cover loans that may not be paid by customers.

The worsening of the situation also appears in the volume of new default loans. In the quarter, the indicator that adds new loans overdue for more than 90 days and operations removed from the portfolio after being considered losses reached R$28 billion.

As a result, the default rate for operations more than 90 days late rose to 6.08%, compared to 4.51% in the same quarter of 2025. The coverage ratio, which measures how much the bank has reserved to cover defaults, fell to 137.8%.

The worsening of credit also reduced the bank's profitability. The return on equity (RSPL), an indicator that shows how much profit the institution can generate in relation to shareholders' capital, fell from 8.3% in the second quarter to just 2.8% in the third quarter.

In the first nine months of the year, the indicator was 6.2%, compared to 11.2% in the same period in 2025.

Another sign of pressure on results was the drop in the gross financial margin, which mainly comprises revenues obtained from loans and financing, minus fundraising expenses.

The indicator totaled R$ 25.982 billion, a decrease of 5.5% in relation to the previous quarter and 1.5% in the annual comparison.

The net financial margin, which also considers expenses related to credit risk, fell 47.3% in the quarter, to R$4.748 billion. The risk-adjusted spread — the difference between what the bank earns from loans and the costs and losses associated with these operations — fell to 0.56%, compared to 1.73% in 2Q26 and 2.37% in 3Q25.

The expanded credit portfolio, which brings together loans and financing granted by the institution, ended September at R$1.306 trillion, a drop of 0.5% compared to the previous quarter and an increase of 2.2% in 12 months. In agribusiness, the portfolio fell 4.3% in the quarter, to R$403.6 billion.

On the revenue side, gains from the provision of services totaled R$9.275 billion, an increase of 1.6% compared to the previous quarter and 4.6% in the annual comparison. The advance was mainly driven by revenue from fund management and consortiums.

Administrative expenses, in turn, reached R$10.279 billion, an increase of 2% in the quarter and 4.8% in 12 months.

The bank declared R$197 million in interest on equity (JCP) and dividends in the quarter, compared to R$926 million in the second quarter, a reduction of 78.7%. The value corresponds to R$0.04 per share.