Banco ABC Brasil S.A

What it is

Banco ABC Brasil started life in 1989 as a joint venture between Arab Banking Corporation and Grupo Roberto Marinho, the Brazilian media group, operating under the name Banco ABC Roma and focusing on corporate lending and treasury. Today it is a full-service commercial bank — but one with a strict rule: it lends only to companies, not households.

Its product range spans local and foreign currency loans, guarantees, trade finance, derivatives, and M&A advisory, with an overseas branch in the Cayman Islands to support international transactions. In 2019 it opened a “Middle” segment serving companies with annual revenues of R$30 (US$6)–R$300 million (US$58 mn), broadening its reach beyond the very large.

Who owns it

In 1997, Arab Banking Corporation bought out the Roberto Marinho Group’s stake and became the controlling shareholder, simultaneously creating a partnership structure in which the bank’s own executives took minority stakes — aligning management’s long-term interests with those of the controller; the bank was renamed Banco ABC Brasil at that point. Arab Banking Corporation holds approximately 60.6% of the voting and economic capital.

Arab Banking Corporation — now branded Bank ABC — is an international bank headquartered in Manama, Bahrain, and is itself majority-owned by the Central Bank of Libya (59.37%) and the Kuwait Investment Authority (40.63%). The remaining ~39% of Banco ABC Brasil’s shares float on B3; the bank listed on B3’s Level 2 Corporate Governance segment via an IPO in 2007.

Who runs it

Sérgio Lulia Jacob has been CEO since 2021; he joined the bank in 1991, joined the executive committee in 1997, and has over 37 years of financial-market experience. He holds an MBA from the University of Michigan.

Khaled Said Ramadan Kawan has chaired the board since 2022; he joined the parent, Arab Banking Corporation, in 1991 and has held roles from Legal Counsel to President Director of the Group. The CFO function sits with an executive vice-president responsible for Finance, Legal, Investor Relations and Strategy, a member of the executive committee since 2007 with over 35 years of financial experience including tenures at BankBoston and Itaú.

The money, in plain words

For every real of owners’ equity, the bank earns about 15 cents a year — a return on equity of 15%, solid and steady for a mid-size lender in a high-interest-rate environment. From each real of revenue it keeps about 12 cents as net profit — a net margin of 12.1% (our calculation) — after absorbing funding costs, loan-loss provisions and operating expenses.

The bank sits on total assets of R$66.3bn (US$12.7 bn) (~$12.74bn), the overwhelming majority of which is the loan book — a typical shape for a pure corporate lender. The expanded loan portfolio reached R$52.3bn (US$10.0 bn) by mid-2025.

Shareholders who bought and held are being paid handsomely to wait: at current prices, the dividend yield is 11.0%, and the shares trade at just 4.4 times earnings — both figures consistent with a bank the market prices cautiously, not one in distress.

What it is doing now

In the third quarter of 2025 the bank posted net profit of R$256.8 million (US$49 mn), up 5.2% from the prior quarter and 0.7% year on year. Net interest income reached a record R$652 million (US$125 mn) in the quarter, though the net interest margin held steady at 4.4%.

The most striking move was a sharp cut to full-year lending guidance: the target for loan-book growth was slashed from 7–12% to just 1–4%, signalling a deliberately cautious stance on new credit in the current economic environment. Credit quality improved, with loans overdue more than 90 days falling to 3.3% of the total portfolio, down from 4.2% a year earlier.

What to watch

• Credit-growth guidance vs. reality. Management cut its 2025 loan-book growth target to 1–4%; whether it can expand profitably in 2026 without sacrificing credit quality is the key question.
• Brazil’s interest-rate cycle. The bank flagged slowing Brazilian GDP growth — projected at 1.7% for 2025 — as a headwind to credit demand. A rate cut that compresses net interest margins would test its efficiency record.
• Parent-company risk. The Central Bank of Libya holds 59.37% of Bank ABC, making geopolitical events in North Africa a remote but real tail risk for Brazilian shareholders who might not typically track Tripoli.
• Middle-market diversification. Corporate clients account for 61.5% of the expanded loan portfolio; the pace at which the newer Middle segment grows will determine how concentrated — and therefore vulnerable — the book remains.

This is news, not investment advice.