Always Strong Always There For You
2020 Annual Report
Always Strong Always There For You
2020 Annual Report
102-10, 102-14, 102-15
To our stakeholders:
We have been through one of the most complex years of all time, due by a situation that can be summed up in one word: COVID.
The crushing blow the pandemic dealt to humanity stirred concern and uncertainty and triggered a global health crisis. For the first time in history, the entire world’s economy stopped at the same time. Nobody was prepared.
We are facing the greatest challenge of our generation. The world is seeing its deepest economic contraction since the Great Depression of 1929; in Mexico, GDP shrank 8.5% and hundreds of thousands of formal jobs were lost. The change was radical and immediate.
But at Banorte, we always find room for growth in a crisis, and this time was no exception. Unfazed by the uncertainty, we put our best foot forward. I am convinced that our biggest achievement as an institution was to remain solid.
The strength of our capital and our skillful handling of liquidity were priorities in this period of worldwide crisis. Banorte gained prominence as one of the country’s best capitalized banks, with a capital adequacy index of 20.2%, well above the regulatory minimum and the requirements of Basel III.
Mexico’s Strong Bank remains strong, as recognized by the prestigious magazine The Banker, which named us Bank of the Year in Mexico.
Being strong allowed us to stand firmly behind our people.
We were the first to launch a program to support clients by deferring their loan payments for four months—a total of 630,000 accounts.
Aware that families and businesses needed us more than ever, we continued to work with and to trust them. At the close of the quarter, our loan portfolio had grown by 5%, totaling more than Ps. 802 billion.
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I am convinced that our biggest achievement as an institution was to remain solid.”
We quickly understood that to maintain our solidity and capacity to respond to the challenges, we need to rely exceptionally on technology.
Through digital developments, we helped millions of people do their banking securely and efficiently, without leaving their homes. The pandemic inspired us to make progress this year that we thought would take a lot longer.
Faithful to our philosophy of banking in a digital world and believing in Mexico, at a time when few dared to invest, we launched the Banorte-Rappi partnership, which allowed us to reach a public that requires products and services with non-traditional characteristics.
We participated in the First Anniversary of the U.N. Principles for Responsible Banking, of which we were founding members. In this we express our conviction that banking is key for the world’s economic recovery, and that it must be sustainable.
We also ratified our commitment to the Principles of Women’s Empowerment and the Ten Principles of the United Nations Global Compact, of which we are signatory members.
We continued to gain strength as sustainability leaders. We were awarded the Institución ALAS20 award, and selected for fourth year in a row as part of the Dow Jones MILA Pacific Alliance Index.
I am confident that with worldwide rollout of vaccines, as activity gradually resumes and new stimulus measures are launched in the US economy, by the second half of the year we will have a more promising economic reality.
It will be a period of reactivated consumption, new businesses, new clients and more opportunities, which we will all be competing for. Only those best prepared will come out ahead.
The market will clearly be complex, we know that, but it’s a terrain we’re well familiar with, because we understand better than anyone the families and companies of each region of the country.
For 2021, I see a Banorte with good results for our shareholders, with a clear improvement in profitability, and double-digit growth in profits.
A bank with a larger loan portfolio, because we trust the Mexican people, and will take advantage of the digital transformation to place clients at the center of our attention.
An institution that cares for and supports its employees and is close to the communities where we work.
We see a Banorte that believes in Mexico, and a Mexico that remains strong.
Carlos Hank González
Chairman of the Board of Directors of Grupo Financiero Banorte