On the Performance of Foreign Bank Stocks Year-To-Date

Among the foreign bank ADRs, emerging market banks have performed very well so far this year relative to their developed world peers. This is not surprising since most emerging markets are up by double digit percentage points this year and financials are the main drivers of growth in these markets. As the pillars of the local economy banks tend to perform well when the overall economy in in expansion mode.

The table below shows the year-to-date price returns of foreign bank stocks:

S.No.BankTickerShare Price on Sept 8, 2016Year-To-Date % ChangeCountry
1Banco BradescoBBD$9.39114.87%Brazil
2Banco Bradesco - ComBBDO$9.4097.89%Brazil
3Banco Santander BrasilBSBR$7.1082.52%Brazil
4Itau UnibancoITUB$11.4175.27%Brazil
5BancolombiaCIB$42.0757.27%Colombia
6Woori BankWF$30.8136.33%Korea
7Banco MacroBMA$77.2732.95%Argentina
8KB Financial GroupKB$35.7928.42%Korea
9Banco Santander ChileBSAC$21.3420.98%Chile
10HDFC BankHDB$73.5519.40%India
11Banco de ChileBCH$67.4716.11%Chile
12Grupo Financiero GaliciaGGAL$30.2011.52%Argentina
13Shinhan FinancialSHG$37.2110.78%Korea
14BBVA Banco FrancesBFR$20.457.18%Argentina
15ICICI BankIBN$8.265.49%India
16Banco SantanderSAN$4.73-2.87%Spain
17HSBCHSBC$38.19-3.24%United Kingdom
18Westpac BankingWBK$22.85-5.70%Australia
19Sumitomo Mitsui FinancialSMFG$7.01-7.64%Japan
20Banco Bilbao Vizcaya ArgentariaBBVA$6.46-11.87%Spain
21Mizuho FinancialMFG$3.48-13.86%Japan
22Mitsubishi UFJ FinancialMTU$5.35-13.99%Japan
23Lloyds Banking GroupLYG$3.17-27.29%United Kingdom
24Barclays BankBCS$9.23-28.78%United Kingdom
25Credit SuisseCS$13.66-37.02%Switzerland
26Royal Bank of ScotlandRBS$5.37-39.46%United Kingdom
27Itau CorpBancaITCB$13.16-8.80%Chile

Note: The above returns are only price returns (excluding dividends)

Source: BNY Mellon

A few observations:

  • Brazilian lender Banco Bradesco(BBD) has more than doubled. But it has only doubled from single digit prices. The other two Brazil banks noted above have soared also.
  • With oil rices rising and peace returning to the country, Colombia’s BanColombia has increased by over 57%.
  • British and other developed European lenders are still struggling to recover from years of poor returns.For example, Royal Bank of Scotland(RBS) is down about 40% and continues to let down investors for years in a row.

Disclosure: Long CIB, BBD, ITUB, SAN, BBVA, BSAC, BCH

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