Intercorp Financial Services Inc. Common Shares

Thank you for holding, and good morning. And welcome to the Intercourt Financial Services third quarter 2023 conference call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. Please be advised that today's call is being recorded. After the presentation, we will open the floor for questions. At that time, instructions will be given as the procedure to follow if you would like to ask a question. Also, you can submit a question online at any time using the window on the webcast. and they will be answered after the presentation during the question and answer session. Simply type your question in a box and click Submit Question. It is now my pleasure to turn the call over to Ms. Valentina Porto of Inspire Group. Ma'am, you may begin.

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. On today's call, Intercorp Financial Services will discuss its third quarter 2023 earnings. We are very pleased to have with us Mr. Luis Felipe Castellanos, Chief Executive Officer of Intercorp Financial Services, Ms. Michaela Casasa, Chief Financial Officer, Intercorp Financial Services, Ms. Claudia Delgado, Chief Financial Officer, Interseguro, and Mr. Bruno Ferrecho, Chief Executive Officer of Interligo. They will be discussing the results that were distributed by the company yesterday. There is also a webcast video presentation to accompany the 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, ifs.com.pe, to download a copy. Otherwise, for any reason, if you need any assistance today, please call Inspire Group in New York at 646-940-8843. 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 forward-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 Intercorp Financial Services, for his opening remarks. Mr. Castellanos, please go ahead, sir.

Thank you. Good morning and thank you for attending our third quarter 2023 earnings call. Let's start by assessing the macro situation in Peru. As we move on through the year, unfortunately, macro conditions have continued to deteriorate. The market expectation for a quick economic recovery has faded out. Businesses and consumers are adapting to the new growth outlook, but conditions have certainly taken a toll in credit conditions in the country. According to the latest survey of economic expectations from the central bank, GDP growth is expected to be close to zero this year and soft in 2024. El Niño possess a risk for a pickup in growth next year, but this will only depend on the magnitude of such climate phenomena. We have taken certain actions in order to mitigate the possible negative impacts, as we will comment during the presentation. It is worth to note that we remain optimistic on the country's mid-term prospects, as many of the factors affecting growth during the last months, we believe, are temporary, including the political turmoil, the social unrest we faced earlier this year, the yaku rains, the restrictive monetary policies after COVID, and even the potential El Niño. On the positive side, inflation has decreased consistently in the last months, to such extent that the central bank has been comfortable to cut interest rates twice already and possibly for a third time later today. Inflation expectations for the next 12 months now lie very close to the upper limit of the policy target. The government appears to be reacting to the negative business environment and has started to make announcements of measures to boost the economy. But it is still early to call for a clear recoup of confidence and private investment and a better macro outlook overall. Moving to our business. Even while facing this negative credit cycle period, IFS continues to deliver growth in terms of number of customers and revenues. And also, we see progress in our digitalization efforts. At Interbank, market shares across key business lines remain strong despite moderation in consumer loans. Here, payment behavior has deteriorated owing to the adverse macro variables mentioned. We are digesting increased levels of cost of risk, mainly in consumer loans. We remain well provisioned and well capitalized. We are committed to helping Peruvians to overcome these challenging times. Separately, global market conditions continue to impact negatively investment results in our wealth management business. Our tight management of expenses over the years, and particularly during the last quarters, positioned IFS to face the current environment. Our efficiency ratio at 34% is one of our strengths. At Interseguro, we see growth in premiums, accelerating in individual life and retail insurance, while consolidating market leadership in annuities. Investment results continue to be solid in this company. Finally, on payments, despite growth in merchants, volumes have moderated this quarter. EasyPay is working on creating synergies with Interbank, while Plin continues to accelerate within a fully interoperable P2P system. Summing up, we remain confident about IFS's outlook going forward, and we believe that once we overcome this negative credit cycle and current macro conditions, Midterm, we will return to our path of target profitability and growth. Now, let me pass it on to Miquela for a more detailed update of the results of the quarter.