Intercorp Financial Services Inc. Common Shares

Good morning and welcome to Intercorp Financial Services first quarter 2022 conference call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. After the presentation, we will open the floor for questions. At that time, instructions will be given as to the procedure to follow if you would like to ask a question. Also, you can submit online questions at any time today using the window on the webcast, and they will be answered after the presentation during the Q&A session. Simply type your question in the box and click Submit Question. It is now my pleasure to turn the call over to Rafael Borja of Inspire Group. Sir, you may begin.

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. On today's call, Intercore Financial Services will discuss its first quarter 2022 earnings. We are very pleased to have with us Mr. Luis Felipe Castellanos, Chief Executive Officer of Intercor Financial Services, Mrs. Miquela Casasa, Chief Financial Officer of Intercor Financial Services, Mr. Gonzalo Basadre, Chief Executive Officer of Interseguro, Mr. Bruno Ferreche, Chief Executive Officer of Inteligo, and Mr. Carlos Tori, Vice President of Retail Banking and Channels of Interbank. They will be discussing the results that were distributed by the company yesterday, May 12th. There is also a webcast video presentation to accompany discussion during this call. If you didn't receive a copy of the presentation or the earnings report, they are now available on the company's website, iss.com.be, to download a copy. Otherwise, for any reason, if you need any assistance today, please call Inspire Group in New York at 212-710-9686. I would like to remind you that today's call is for investors and analysts only. Therefore, questions from the media will not be taken. Please be advised that follow-up looking statements may be made during this conference call. These do not account for future economic circumstances, industry conditions, the company's future performance, or financial results. As such, statements made are based on several assumptions and factors that could change causing actual results to materially differ from the current expectations. For a complete note on forward-looking statements, please refer to the earnings presentation and report issued yesterday. It is now my pleasure to turn the call over to Mr. Luis Felipe Castellanos, Chief Executive Officer of Intercall Financial Services, for his opening remarks. Mr. Castellanos, please go ahead, sir.

Thank you, Rafael. Thanks, everyone. Good morning. Welcome to our first quarter 2022 earnings call. We really appreciate you taking your time to attend our call and I hope that you and your families remain safe and healthy. Let me start by giving you a brief overview of the macro and political situation in Peru. Despite accumulated GDP growth figures reached 3.9% in February, we expect this year's GDP growth to be somewhere in between 2.5% and 3%, mainly explained by three factors. One, a less favorable international environment due to global financial conditions, health restrictions in China, and the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Second, a historical increase in production costs and in inflation, which is negatively impacting businesses' margins and families' purchasing power. The central bank is tightening its monetary policy with a recent announcement of a new 50 basis points rate hike as of yesterday. And third, the level of political uncertainty in our country. We believe that the political front will continue to be uncertain in the coming months, and it will take some time for public and private investment to resume its growth pattern, despite positive headwinds in light of commodity prices and exports positively impacting the macro accounts. Under this scenario, IFS continues to show resilience. Our core banking franchise continues to recover with a strong growth in consumer financing and commercial banking with sound risk indicators. We still face volatility in our investment operations, but all in all, we have continued our recovery path. As we have mentioned in the past, we strongly believe that our people, our culture, and our ability to adapt to changes through our two-tiered digital strategy are our core strengths and the pillars that will allow us to grow profitably in the future. Our deployment of digital products and services continues to evolve and our franchise continues to grow in number of customers and in revenues with sound levels of efficiency. As we will see during the presentation, we recently announced the acquisition of 50% stake that we did not own in EasyPay, a transaction that reinforces our commitment to Peru and completes our 100% ownership of the company. We believe this deal will strengthen our strategic and competitive positioning in the payments landscape in Peru and will allow us to explore new sources of growth and monetization opportunities. both with our retail customers and with merchants. At IFS, we continue to make progress and to grow in a sustainable way. We are committed to fulfill our purpose, which is to empower all Peruvians to achieve their financial well-being. Now, let me pass it on to Miquela to update you on the results of this quarter and to give you a detailed review of our operations. Thank you very much and remain healthy.