Credit and saving co-operatives in Mexico increased profit by over a fifth in 2012.
According to a report published by the National Savings and Values Commission (CNBV), the net profit of the sector increased by 22.8 per cent from MXN 741 million in December 2011 to MXN 909m in December 2012.
The credit portfolio reached a total of MXN 41,664m in December 2012, which represented a reduction of 0.4 per cent compared to the previous year. The regulatory body also said the result was reached by lowering reserves from 1,560m to 1,286m. This enabled co-operatives to compensate for the reduction of net commission income and the increase of administrative and promotional spending.
Assets of the credit and saving co-operatives were worth MXN 61,630m, which represented an increase of 8.5 per cent from the previous year and is partly due to having six more active co-operatives operating between December 2011 and December 2012.
Mexico, a country with 10,000 co-operatives in which 10 million people participate, has six million credit union members. There are currently 69 authorised societies operating as credit and saving co-operatives, which is six more than in 2011.
Caja Popular Mexicana, the biggest credit and saving co-operative in Mexico and Latin America, ended 2012 with 432 branches and 1,736,000 members. Every year the million members of Caja Popular Mexicana participate in General Assemblies at local, regional and national levels.
Photo: Caja Popular Mexicana opening its 400th branch in 2010.
