Two of Macao’s major banks have reported making respectable profits last year.
Banco Nacional Ultramarino (BNU) recorded a profit of MOP 447.4 million (US$55.7 million) in 2021, 6.4 per cent more than in 2020, according to data released on Wednesday.
In 2020, BNU, which is part of the Portuguese Caixa Geral de Depósitos Group, recorded a profit of MOP 420.3 million.
The 2021 result is down 38 per cent when compared to 2019, the last year before the Covid-19 pandemic, when the bank announced gains of MOP 721.9 million.
BNU, which has 14 branches, employs 500 staff and has 250,000 clients is a currency-issuing bank in Macao together with the Bank of China.
Meanwhile the Bank of China Macao Branch reported some MOP 6 billion (US$750.4 million) in net profits for 2021, a 7.5 per cent year-on-year rise from 2020 according to a financial report published in the Official Gazette on Wednesday.
Bank of China also held some MOP 442 billion in credit granted by the end of last year and MOP 11.1 billion in Macao government debt certificates.
Bank of China employs some 1,800 people, approximately one-third of the city’s banking industry employees.
