Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S.A.

Good morning ladies and gentlemen and welcome to BLADEX's second quarter 2025 earnings conference call. A slight presentation is a company today's webcast and is also available on the investor section of the company's website .blaidex.com. There will be an opportunity for you to ask questions at the end of today's presentation. Please note today's conference call is being recorded. As a reminder, all participants will be in a listen only mode. I would now like to turn the call over to Mr. Jorge Salas, Chief Executive Officer. Sir, please go ahead.

Good morning everyone and thank you for joining us today to discuss BLADEX's results for the second quarter of 2025. I will begin with the highlights of our performance during the quarter and then as usual Annette, our CFO, will walk you through the financials in more detail. After that, I will share a few thoughts on the macro environment and update you on the progress of BLADEX's transformation journey before we open the call for questions. The second quarter stands as one of the strongest quarters in our bank's history, not only because of the record bottom number but perhaps more importantly because of the earnings quality. Furthermore, it reaffirms the resilience and adaptability of our business model in the face of an increasingly complex macro environment in a particularly volatile trade environment. In the second quarter, we delivered record earnings, strong revenue growth propelled by fee income while maintaining pristine asset quality and robust capital levels. While the results include a meaningful contribution from a landmark structure transaction executing during the quarter, it is important to highlight that even without this transaction, the quarter would still have marked a record performance driven by well-diversified commercial activity and disciplined execution across all business lines. Our commercial portfolio grew to $10.8 billion that is up 1% quarter over quarter and 18% year over year. Growth was broad-based with strong momentum in Central America. As I said, credit quality remained exceptional with non-performing loans close to zero and over $197.97 of exposures classified as stage one. On the funding side, deposits increased to $6.4 billion, 10% above the prior quarter and 23% higher than a year ago. Deposits now represent 62% of our total funding. This is obviously key to keep our funding costs under control. The growth in deposits was driven by continuous strength in our long-standing institutional deposit base, including central banks, our class A shareholders, and a solid performance of our Yankee CD program, as well as a sustained increase in corporate client deposits, which have grown more than 30% in the last 12 months. Net interest income totaled nearly $68 million, up 4% from the previous quarter and 8% versus last year. Our net interest margin stood at 2.36%, slightly above expectations. Fee income deserves a special mention. Fee income stood at $20 million for the quarter, up 88% quarter over quarter and 59% year over year. A significant part of this increase was due to the structured syndicated deal I mentioned before. In such an interaction, Blacks acted as global coordinator and mandated leader ranger alongside a global bank and a multilateral institution. For a $1.6 billion senior-secured syndicated facility for its staff soleil, Suriname's national oil company and top contributor to the country's GDP. Suriname has been a class A shareholder of Blacks since 1997. The transaction received a strong reception from the market, attracting 18 financial institutions from all over the world. It is once again the proof of our ability to selectively execute high-impact deals that align with both our risk appetite and our mission. Blacks has a long-standing track record of supporting state-owned enterprises in strategic sectors such as oil and gas, and StatsOili, with a strong fundamentals and excellent governance, is a company we've followed closely for many, many years. While our loan book remains predominantly short-term, this facility with a weighted average life of approximately five years fits comfortably within our usual medium-term exposure limits and reflects our ability to support longer-dated wealth structure transactions when the risk return profile is attractive. But beyond this transaction, commercial activity remains strong, and our pipeline continues to be active and as strong as ever, particularly in the trade finance and structured lending. These dynamics give us the confidence in our ability to continue delivering, recurring in high-quality fee income. Operating expenses were stable -over-quarter, and our efficiency ratio improved to 23.1 percent, a 380 basis point gain versus the prior quarter, and comfortably within our full year guidance. Finally, net income reached a record of $64 million, up over 24 percent from the first quarter and 28 percent from a year ago. Return on equity stood at 18.5 percent, the highest quarterly ROE in over two decades, a clear reflection of the strength and scalability of our business model. Capital levels

were up to $12.2 billion, a total credit portfolio. Our total credit portfolio stood at $12.2 billion, up 18 percent -over-year, reflecting sustained growth in commercial activity across the region. The commercial portfolio, which includes loans and contingencies, reached $10.8 billion, up 1 percent -over-quarter, and 18 percent -over-year. Growth this quarter was primarily driven by our off-balance sheet business, which rose 11 percent -over-quarter and 25 percent -over-year, supported by higher demand across all segments that are credits, guarantees, and credit commitments. This helped us to deepen client engagement while preserving capital and enhancing risk-adjusted returns. The loan portfolio closed this quarter at $8.6 billion, up 16 percent -over-year. While -of-quarter balances were slightly below March levels, the average balances were higher than the ones in the first quarter, reflecting healthy origination. In a context of continued margin compression and elevated liquidity, we remained focused on sound underwriting and high-quality opportunities. VLADEX continued to grow its commercial portfolio by executing opportunities aligned with our strategic focus. High-value transactions, such as the Statsoli financing facility and other syndicated deals, demonstrated the strength of our origination and distribution capabilities, helping to upset tighter pricing and ample market liquidity. Many of these transactions were in the works for several quarters, highlighting the depth of our pipeline and consistency in execution. Our commercial exposure remains well diversified across sectors and geographies, with our main exposures in Brazil, Guatemala, and Mexico. This quarter, we also saw relative growth in Costa Rica, Paraguay, and Suriname. We continue to find opportunities across the region to strengthen client relationships, capitalize on market dislocations, and grow our presence in key markets. Looking ahead, we see strong momentum in the execution of medium-term structured transactions, which offer higher margins and better capital efficiency, complemented by short-term transactions that keep us agile and responsive to our client needs. Turning now to the investment portfolio, balances increase 8% -over-quarter and 20% -over-year, reaching just over $1.3 billion. The portfolio is short in duration, with an average duration around two years, and remains concentrated in investment-grade non-LATAM issuers, providing liquidity and credit diversification. Most of these securities are held through our New York agency and are eligible for the Fed discount window, reinforcing our already strong liquidity position by providing contingent access to a lender of last resort. Lastly, total assets reach $12.7 billion, up 2% -over-quarter and 16% -over-year, reflecting both commercial momentum and our flexible balance sheet strategy. We continue to grow with discipline, preserving capital, sustaining client activity, and reinforcing our balance sheet strength. Moving on to asset quality, credit performance remains strong in the second quarter and continues to reflect our disciplined and proactive approach to risk. As of June, non-performing loans, or stage 3, total $19 million, or just .2% of total exposure, with a robust reserve coverage of five times, while stage 2 exposures remain stable at $240 million, or 2% of total credit portfolio. In turn, nearly 98% of our portfolio is classified as stage 1, with no signs of deterioration or weakening credit strengths. Provisions for credit losses total $5 million this quarter. Most of it was tied to strengthening reserves for exposures in higher-risk credit profiles, primarily related to stage 2, rather than new impairments or downgrades. Overall, the credit portfolio remains in solid shape, backed by strong client performance and no material credit events or emerging risks. Let's now turn to funding. Deposits reach $6.4 billion at quarter end, up 10%, -over-quarter, and 23% -over-year. Beyond the increase in absolute terms, deposits have also continued in relative importance, now representing 62% of total funding, compared to 57% last quarter. This tendency highlights the growing strength of our client relationships and the central role deposits play in our funding strategy. This strong performance was supported by steady growth in bank and corporate deposits. As Jorge mentioned, corporate deposits grew over 30% -over-year, reflecting our ability to expand and diversify our funding base. In addition, Class A shareholder deposits, which remain a core pillar, accounted for 37% of total deposits at quarter end. Our Yanki CD program also continues to scale effectively. Balances reach $1.3 billion, representing 20% of total deposits, providing both granularity and duration to our deposit base. Outside deposits, short-term funding and repo balances remain stable, continuing to play a key role in supporting portfolio growth. Meanwhile, long-term funding totaled $2.5 billion or 24% of total financial liabilities. We are pleased to share that this past July, as part of our funding diversification strategy, we issue a local bond in the Mexican market for 4,000 million pesos. The transaction was very well received and oversubscribed, confirming strong demand from local investors and reinforcing our position as a recurring issuer in Mexico. The proceeds were swapped to US dollars at very attractive levels, providing cost-efficient funding to support portfolio growth. In short, we continue to develop a robust and stable funding base that is cost-effective, increasingly diversified, and aligned with the evolving requirements of our commercial strategy. In addition, at quarter end, liquid assets represented over 15% of total assets, providing a solid buffer and ample flexibility. We are building a funding base that gives us flexibility to support growth, respond to market shifts, and optimize our liability structure over time. Now, let's take a look at capital. Total equity reached $1.4 billion, about 3% quarter over quarter, and 12% year over year, reflecting the strength of our earnings generation and retained capital. Our Z1 ratio remains solid at 15%, while the total capital adequacy ratio improves to 13.9%, both in lines with internal targets and well above regulatory minimums. This reflects a balanced approach between supporting portfolio growth and preserving capital strength, while reinforcing our firm commitment to maintaining an investment-grade profile. In line with this performance, the board approved a quarterly dividend of .62.5 per share, unchanged from the prior quarter. This reflects the consistency of our financial results and our confidence in the durability of the bank's earnings. Our capital position remains robust, allowing us to grow, return capital, and defend our credit ratings with confidence. Let's move now to the top line, starting with the net interest income. Net interest income totals $67.7 million, up 4% quarter over quarter and 8% year over year, driven by increasing average loan balances and discipline pricing across the credit portfolio. Our net interest margin remains stable at 2.36%, and our net interest spread improves to 1.70%, up five basis points versus the first quarter. These results confirm that our margins have now stabilized at target levels, even in the face of falling interest rates. While origination remains pressured by tighter pricing and high liquidity across the region, we have successfully turned our funding strategy and discipline underwriting into solid and consistent earnings. Our growing and more diversified deposit base continues to lower our cost of funds and support margin stability. As a result, we remain confident in our full year NIEM guidance in the range of 2.30%, assuming no major changes in rate projections or portfolio mix. With spreads and NIEM holding steady, we are proving that strong origination and proactive asset liability management can sustain earnings, even in challenging trade environments. Turning now to free income. Non-interest income reached $19.9 million this quarter, nearly doubling from the prior quarter and making a record high for BLADEX. The standout performance was the closing of the transaction for SoutiNIME National Oil Company, STATSOLIN, a $1.6 billion syndicated loan in which BLADEX acted as a global bug runner. This has been the largest syndicated facility ever arranged by BLADEX in 46 years of history. As a result, syndicated transactions and recurring fees from our role as admin agent contributed $10 million during the quarter, reinforcing the strength of our structuring distribution franchise and our increased relevance in providing medium-term solutions. Credit commitment also added $2.8 million in fee income, demonstrating the importance of contingent lending within our product offering. That said, the record fee generation in the quarter wasn't solely driven by syndicated transactions. Recurrent activity across the other business lines remains strong. Fees from letter of credits rose to $7.8 million, up 17% quarter over quarter and 20% year over year, reflecting healthy volumes in our core trade finance flows. As we continue to roll out our new trade finance platform, we expect this revenue stream to grow further, supported by enhanced client experience and processing efficiency. While transactions like StatsOLI are not frequent, our fee generation reflects the steady growth of our structured and higher value-added trade finance businesses. Record fees this quarter reflect more than one big deal. They validate the depth, strength, and reach of our multi-line origination capabilities. Let's now turn to expenses and efficiency. Operating expenses totaled $20.8 million, essentially in line with both the previous quarter and our estimate for the period. This consistency reflects our disciplined approach to cost management as we advance in key strategic initiatives. During the quarter, we continue executing on our transformation agenda with a focus on technology and digital capabilities. This includes the deployment of our new trade finance platform, which is expected to be fully operational for the letter of credit products by the end of the third quarter. With the platform now live, we anticipate that the related depreciation expenses will begin to impact costs towards the end of the third quarter. That this will not impact our full year efficiency guidance. Importantly, we expect this investment to enhance client experience and unlock incremental fee income over time. Aside from project-related costs, the underlying expense base remains stable, with no material increases in personnel or overheads costs. As a result, our efficiency ratio improved to 23.1%, well above our full year target range. While this quarter's result was supported by elevated fee income, we continue to expect efficiency to remain below 30%, even as we sustain investment in growth and modernization. We continue to manage expenses with a long-term mindset, balancing strategic investment with cost discipline to enable scalable and profitable growth. Let me close with a look at earnings and returns. Net income for the second quarter reached $64.2 million, up 24% from the first quarter and 28% year over year, driven by strong top-line performance, stable credit provisions, and disciplined cost management. This marks the highest quarterly operating income in the bank's history and reflects the strength of our commercial model, the scalability of our platform, and the discipline execution of our strategy. Return on equity expanded to 18.5%, also a record in the last two decades. To put this in perspective, even after normalizing for the extraordinary fee from the Statsolid transaction, ROE would have remained well within our guidance range, demonstrating the strength of our underlying profitability. This performance reflects a combination of solid revenue growth, fee diversification, a more efficient funding base, and a strong cost control, all achieved without compromising our risk standards. In conclusion, even excluding the significant fee income from the Statsolid transaction, our core earnings would still rank among the strongest in recent years. This reinforces that our profitability is not driven by one-off transactions, but by a disciplined strategy that continues to deliver attractive and sustainable returns for our shareholders. With that, I will now turn the call back to Jorge for closing remarks. Thank you all.

Thank you very much, Annette. Very clear, great job. Turning now to the macro backdrop, the global environment remains complex. Trade tensions and shifting policy priorities continue to fuel market volatility and uncertainty. Geopolitical risks have also intensified with the renewed conflict between Iran and Israel contributing to a spike in oil prices. Governments are shifting towards more protectionist policies. That said, their actual impact so far has been lower than initially expected. In Latin America, the picture remains broadly resilient. Consumption continues to drive growth while investment lacks. The IMF expects regional growth to ease slightly in 2025, mainly due to slower activity in Brazil and Mexico. In contrast, several economies such as Colombia, Chile, Panama, Costa Rica, and Guatemala are expected to accelerate their growth trajectory in the second half of this year. Fiscal vulnerabilities remain a key risk in a -interest-rate environment. That said, trade shifts and low regional tariffs offer new opportunities for Latin America, particularly in manufacturing and exports. Also, remittance flows remain stronger than anticipated, with many countries still seeing double-digit growth here. In general, Latin America's fundamentals remain solid. In this context, as a regionally-focused institution, Blacks is well positioned to support clients navigating this environment, through disciplined credit execution and deep experience in cross-border flow. We remain cautious and at the same time constantly evaluating opportunities with an attractive risk-reward balance. Let me now quickly update you on the execution of our strategic plan. Exactly one year ago, we announced our partnership with CGI, a global leader in trade finance technology. The plan was to implement a new digital platform to modernize our trade operations, particularly our management of letters of credit and working capital solutions. At the time, we shared our intentions to roll out this solution within a 12-month timeline. Today, I'm proud to report that we have delivered exactly as promised. 12 months later, with flawless execution and no delays, the platform is fully up and running. This was a complex and very demanding IT project that was run by our project management office. The project involved more than 50 professionals across the organization working in close collaboration with our vendor. Final testing was successfully completed during the second quarter of this year. We rolled out the platform to a group of pilot clients in July, and today we're operating entirely on the new system. I want to recognize the dedication and professionalism of the entire team, but this is not just a system upgrade. It marks the beginning of a new era for Vladix in the digital transformation of its trade finance operations. Our new trade platform significantly enhances our efficiency, our security, and the client experience, and reinforces our commitment to offering world-class solutions to our clients across the region. We are now entering a transition phase where new trade operations are already being processed through the new platform, while existing transactions will naturally run their course in the legacy system. As this transition occurs, we expect the platform to reach operational capacity over the next 18 months, gradually becoming the backbone of our trade finance offering. Before we move to a Q&A, let me close by saying that we are pleased with how the year overall is unfolding. Our results for the first half of the year gives us confidence to reaffirm our full year guidance, and we remain optimistic about the outlook for the second half. The fundamentals across the region remain constructive. Our pipeline is stronger than ever. Vladix is well positioned to continue delivering solid, consistent results. With that, let's now open the line for questions.

Thank you very much for the presentation. We will now begin the Q&A section for investors and analysts. If you wish to ask a question, please click on Raise Hand. If your question has already been taken, you can leave the queue by clicking on Put Hand Down. There is also the possibility to ask your question through the Q&A icon at the bottom of the screen. You may select the icon and type your question with your name and company. Written questions that are not addressed during the call will be returned by the Investor Relations team. Our first question comes from Ricardo Busch Pigel with BTG. You can open your microphone.

Hi everyone and congrats on the solid quarter. I have two questions here on my side. This was a particularly strong quarter for syndication fees as you mentioned. So it will be interesting to hear exactly what drove this strong performance in this line, if there is something in terms of conditions that helped a little bit in this quarter. And what should we expect going forward, especially considering the second half of the year is usually a bit stronger in the syndication line. And for my second question, back in Q1 Conference Call, you guys mentioned that you were already expecting some widening of spreads following Trump's Liberation Day and we did see that in Q2 results. But since then markets have calmed down quite a bit and I would like to hear your take on how you're seeing the competitive environment now, especially with more active capital markets towards the second half of the year and whether we should see or expect spread tightening in the coming quarters, brushing a little bit more of NIM. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Ricardo, for your question. A few things here. I'm going to answer the first question and then turn it over to Sam, our Chief Commercial Officer, to answer the spreads question. But as far as the results and how sustainable they are, the record results include, as we said, this one-off transaction that had exceptional syndication and structuring fees. But as I said before, even if you exclude that transaction, we would have had a record quarter anyways. I think the ROE would have been close to 17 percent even without that transaction. Now, if you zoom out and look at this bank over the last three and a half years, what you see is a systematic increase in fee income, not only in nominal terms, but also as a percentage of totaling, which is exactly the idea and will continue to be the idea. Remember that you have a bank, Ricardo, that has essentially a matchbook and will continue to have a matchbook. And that has floating rates on both sides of the balance sheet. So the whole idea of this plan is to make our results less dependent on market rates. So fees is basically the name of the game. In our case, as a trade bank, the letter of credit fees are essential. And that's why we invested in this platform that's going to start scaling soon. So in other words, I'm not ready to give you exact guidance for 2026. I mean, it will depend on market rates, among other things. What I can tell you is that we still see substantial potential in basically all of our business lines as we keep scaling the bank in the future. Sam, do you want to tackle this, Fred's question?

Well, in terms of market conditions, I think the market continues to be pretty liquid and competitive. But this has been, I would say, business as usual for us this year, and yet we continue to grow rapidly. We see more margin pressure, definitely on the FI lending markets. And we so far have been able to compensate with the higher spreads on the structure trade and working capital business as we continue to roll out new solutions. I think we'll see more stabilization for short-term margins. And for the rest of the year, we don't expect major changes. I think there could be maybe some upside in case of the trade wars continue. But so far, we haven't seen such trade wars affecting so much the margins.

Very, very clear. And with that that you guys mentioned, it would make sense to expect you guys approaching closer to the top end of the guidance, but even surprising a little bit the top end of the guidance in terms of ROE, given that you already delivered a lot in the first half of the year. And right now, the guidance is implying a big deceleration in terms of bottom line.

Yes, for sure. We're going to be very close to the guidance, but if some were going to be closer to the upper end of our guidance. Remember that the amortization of the platforms will start in the second quarter, but it seems like they're going to be today, what I can say seems to be going to be slightly above our guidance. Yes.

Very clear. Thank you.

Our next question comes from Santiago Martinez with Credit Corp. You can open your microphone.

Hi, everyone. Congratulations for these results. I have two questions on my side. The second one, the first one, sorry, is regarding if we should observe an increase in fees and letters of credits in the coming quarters due to the new platform of letter of credits. And how much could this increase in terms of fees and profitability? And then the second question is, how do you perceive the current uncertainty in global trade as it impacted long demand in different sectors and countries? Thank you.

Thank you, Santiago. Good question. As far as the letters of credit and the new trade platform, I mean, the point here is that there is a big upside in processing smaller transactions with better margins. And that will be from both existing clients and also new clients. The new platform will allow us to do that in a cost-efficient manner with much better service with a new digital client interface, but also reducing operational risk. So over the medium term, you're going to see significant increase in transactional volume and better margins. We do anticipate a reduction in the average ticket size, but the overall strategy is focused on scaling the business through higher transaction throughput. The platform is now live and we anticipate, as I said, the depreciation expenses to start impacting the cost now. But LCs are very profitable, especially given its low capital consumption. And this is for sure an important strategic investment, but we expect it to pay off within 18 months. So it's going to be a very straightforward business case. You want to tackle the second one, Sam?

Yeah, I think it's pretty straightforward. So far we have not seen so much affection in volume, given the volume of pricing, given the new tariffs. I think, I mean, we're speaking with our clients on a daily basis about that. I think the important thing everybody is preparing to reroute their... I mean, the region will continue to export and if not to the US, to other regions, most of what comes from it is commodities and commodities can be, let's say, easier to reroute them. And the demand, I would say at least in the short term, the demand for financing such exports should be there. I think on the long term, then yes, I think it's something we're evaluating and also preparing for, but we don't know how it's going to be.

Thank you so much. And just to make a sum, considering the records fee income and expected pipeline in syndication fees for the upcoming quarters, can we still consider net fees at current levels or how sustainable is this in these quarters in terms of fees?

So in terms of... So you have basically two fees. You have syndication fees, you have that one-off transaction that is very meaningful. We do have a very strong pipeline, as I said, in syndication, so I will say stronger than ever, but perhaps not with transactions, not as big as this $1.6 billion transaction, but steady and healthy pipeline. And as far as letters of credit fees, you've seen, they're up 20% from last year. And as the platform starts rolling out and including new clients from different segments, then you will see sustained increase in LL letters of credit fees as well.

Thank you so much.

Yes,

let me... Yeah, very good question. Factoring is obviously an essential part of our working capital solutions strategy. It is a natural fit. Sam, I don't know if you want to give some color on that question. We've done some... We've made some progress already there.

Yeah, we have been putting a lot of resources to grow the business, not only through single invoice discounting, but also portfolio solutions, securitization, and other forms of portfolio discount. This is a growing business for us and we see ample room for growth in the many countries that we operate. This is a common need from our clients, let's say the sell side of their accounts, short-term working capital. And yes, there is definitely focus on to grow that in the short and the medium.

Not only... I would say I would add only, not only international factoring, but also potentially in local currency as long as we don't run any effects risk and there's some ways to edge that. But there are some markets where the regulation favors the factoring. Yeah, I think they take the factoring. So we're looking into that, yes.

Our next question comes from Ricardo Valarino. Congratulations once again on a magnificent quarter, both ROE and the efficiency ratio at record levels. How should see these two in the near and midterm outlook?

Thank you, Ricardo. I think we all... I before... these are record results. They are impacted by this one off transaction. They would have been record results anyway, even without accounting for that transaction. As far as the guidance for the year, we expect for sure to be below, I mean better than the efficiency guidance and for sure in the upper end of our ROE and bottom line results. As far as going forward, we depend on market rates. But the whole idea of the plan is to make again this bank less dependent on market rates. So we're very promising.

Okay. Thank you very much. That's all the questions we have for today. I'll pass the line back to the BLADEX team for their concluding remarks.

Well, thank you. Thank you everybody for the questions. Again, we see substantial potential in all of our business lines and we look forward to having you in the next call. Thank you so much.

This concludes BLADEX call. You may now disconnect and have a nice day.