Credicorp Ltd.

Good morning, everyone. I would like to welcome all of you to the Credit Core Limited first quarter 2024 conference call. A slide presentation will accompany today's webcast, which is available in the investor section of Credit Core's website. Today's conference call is being recorded. As a reminder, all participants will be in listen-only mode. There will be an opportunity for you to ask questions at the end of today's presentation. If you would like to ask a question, please signal by pressing star 1 on your telephone keypad. If you have connected to the call using the HD web phone on your computer, please use the keypad on your computer screen. If you are using a speaker phone, please make sure your mute function is turned off to allow your signal to reach our equipment. Now, it is my pleasure to turn the conference over to Credit Corp's IRO, Milagros Siguenas. You may begin.

Thank you and good morning everyone. Speaking on today's call will be Gianfranco Ferrari, our Chief Executive Officer, and Cesar Rios, our Chief Financial Officer. Participating in the Q&A session will also be Alejandro Perez-Reyes, Chief Operating Officer, Francesca Raffo, Chief Innovation Officer, Reynaldo Llosa, Chief Risk Officer, Cesar Rivera, Head of Insurance and Pensions, Carlos Sotelo, MiBanco Chief Financial Officer, and Diego Cabrero, Head of Universal Banking. Before we proceed, I would like to make the following self-hardware statement. Today's call will contain forward-looking statements which are based on management's current expectations and beliefs and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. And I refer you to the forward-looking statement section of our earnings release and recent filings with the SEC. We assume no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect new or changed events or circumstances. Gianfranco Ferrari will start the call with opening remarks about our improved macro environment and brief comments on our strategic initiatives, followed by Cesar Rios, who will present in more detail the evolution of key macro figures, our financial performance, and revised outlook for 2024. Gianfranco, please go ahead.

Thank you, Miguel. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us. Despite our strong structural macroeconomic figures, the persistent fragility of the government and its limited capacity to implement timely policies aimed at stimulating investment and economic growth has prompted S&Ps to downgrade our sovereign credit rating to BBB-. This downgrade is expected to affect the investor appetite for our country. In our view, however, we do not expect the economic growth agenda that has been put in place this year by the executive branch to change prior to the 2026 general elections. The overall economic outlook remains positive with expected GDP growth revised upward to 3% in March from the previous projection of 2.5% commented in our last call. Beyond better weather conditions, benefiting the fishing, agriculture, and textile sectors, as El Nino has ended, several factors support a gradual recovery of economic activity during the upcoming quarters. Copper and gold prices have increased significantly and are expected to remain high. A lower inflation rate, which will benefit consumers, and lastly, the stimulative effect of counter-cyclical economic policies such as a lower central bank policy rate and higher dynamism of public investment, which will start to feed into the economy. Despite its challenges, the Peruvian government has placed explicit focus on promoting investments to contribute to business confidence recovery. In the first quarter alone, awarded infrastructure investments reached $3.1 billion. Additionally, the government's plan to establish a unified office for infrastructure investments marks a significant step forward. Economic expectations indicators have trended upward since the end of last year. Anticipated loan growth is on the horizon as private sector confidence strengthens. Additionally, inflation stands low compared to other Latin American countries, and formal sector wages have experienced recent growth. The Congress recent approval of the seventh withdrawal of pension funds underscores again the need to reform the current private pension model in Peru. Turning to our first quarter results. We delivered a strong ROE of 18.2%, including the impact from the reversal of provisions at BCP and Nibanco. This was achieved in the context of weak loan growth and an economy that is slowly starting to recover. Risk-adjusted NIM remain resilient, reflecting our disciplined interest rate management strategy, further supported by lower provisions and our leading low-cost funding position. Additionally, our strong solvency has allowed us to increase our dividend to 35 soldiers per share, while also contemplating our plans for continued sustainable growth. Our resolute focus on advancing innovation and strengthening our digital capabilities has fortified our competitive modes. This has not only elevated our relationship with current clients, but has also contributed to expanding financial inclusion. With respect to the macro backdrop, as I just mentioned, we anticipate a sustained economic improvement during the year, and Cesar will discuss this in more detail shortly. Now, moving on strategic developments, we remain focused on strengthening our core businesses while also complementing them with disruptive initiatives. As one of the few banks to embrace self-disruption to remain ahead of the competition, anchored in allowing clients to decide where and how they bank, has been evident since Credit Corp's inception. These strategic initiatives positioned Credit Corp for continued digital advancement and customer-centric growth. At Mivanco, which mainly provides financing to micro-businesses, we are reaffirming our hybrid model strategy. This strategy leverages high-touch in-person visits from relationship managers and digital tools, including centralized risk assessment. After making significant adjustments in terms of pricing and origination guidelines over the past six months, we're observing improved payment performance in new vintages. Additionally, we're now selectively growing within the lower-ticket, higher-yielding segments that have relatively better brief profiles. Our planned advancements are on track, and we expect a rebound in profitability at MiBanco this year. I want to take a moment to address a question we have been hearing from you on the road. related to the contextual overlap of Mibanco and YAPE clients. YAPE prioritizes consumers at its lending business and Mibanco provides financing mainly to micro businesses. While we acknowledge that there is little distinction between the pocket of individuals and the micro entrepreneurs, the lending business at YAPE is at a very early stage and we're a long way away from seeing an overlap. Now, let me turn the call over to Cesar who will discuss in more detail the microenvironment and the operational and financial performance of our business units.