Weekly Report - 20 February 2014 (WR-14-07)

BRAZIL | Banco do Brasil’s good year. In spite of a poor final quarter, the state-owned Banco do Brasil, the country’s largest lender, reported that in 2013 it earned a record net profit of R$15.75bn (US$6.5bn), a figure 29.5% higher than that recorded in 2012 (and just above Itaú’s R$15.69bn profit for the year). The bank’s results mean that its profits for last year are the highest ever recorded by a Brazilian bank.