Banco Bradesco S.A.

What it is

Bradesco is one of Brazil’s largest private-sector banks, offering a full range of retail, commercial, corporate and investment banking services, as well as insurance, pension and savings products. Its business runs in two broad halves: banking — retail, investment and private banking, asset management, leasing and consumer credit — and insurance, covering vehicles, health, accidents and pension management.

The bank was established on March 10, 1943, by Amador Aguiar, who envisioned a bank accessible to the broader Brazilian population. By the end of 2024 it held BRL 644.3 bn (US$124.7 bn) in deposits and BRL 672.4 bn (US$130.1 bn) in loans, served through more than 2,300 branches.

Who owns it

Cidade de Deus — Cia. Comercial de Participações S.A., the bank’s principal holding company, controls roughly 28.5% of the shares.

Fundação Bradesco, the bank’s own education-focused endowment, holds a further 8.65% directly and 22.83% indirectly, for a combined 31.44%. Together these two related vehicles account for the controlling block, leaving a meaningful free float spread across domestic pension funds, global asset managers and retail investors.

Insiders collectively hold about 71.9% of shares on EODHD data, with institutional investors at roughly 14.6%.

The bank’s bylaws guarantee all shareholders a minimum dividend equal to 30% of net income. That floor, combined with an 8.1% dividend yield at current prices, makes Bradesco one of the higher-yielding large-caps on the B3.

Who runs it

Luiz Carlos Trabuco Cappi has been Chairman since October 2017. Marcelo de Araújo Noronha was promoted to CEO by the Board in 2023, replacing Octavio de Lazari Junior.

Noronha brought more than 38 years of financial-market experience to the role, including two decades inside the Bradesco organisation, and began his banking career in Recife in 1985.

Cassiano Ricardo Scarpelli serves as Executive Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer, having signed the bank’s 2025 annual SEC filing in that capacity. Alexandre da Silva Glüher is Vice Chairman, a post he has held since August 2022.

The money, in plain words

Revenue grew from BRL 78.9 bn (US$15.3 bn) in 2024 to BRL 89.3 bn (US$17.3 bn) in 2025 — a 13.2% rise — while the bank kept about 25 cents of profit from every real of income, a net profit margin of 25.4%, high for a bank of this scale (our calculations). For every real of equity that owners have put in, Bradesco earned back roughly 13 cents last year — a return on equity of 13.37%, which the bank’s own management says now exceeds its cost of capital for the first time in the current transformation cycle.

At 7.6 times earnings (price-to-earnings ratio of 7.6×), the shares trade at a meaningful discount to many global banking peers, reflecting both Brazil’s high interest-rate environment and the market’s patience while the turnaround matures. The group employs 82,095 people in total, including staff at affiliated and foreign companies.

Total assets stand at BRL 2.33 trillion (US$450.9 bn) (~$450.9 bn, our calculation) — a figure that underscores why “net debt” is not the right lens here; like all deposit-taking banks, Bradesco’s liabilities are mostly customer funds, not borrowed money.

What it is doing now

In February 2026, Bradesco reported full-year 2025 recurring net income of BRL 24.7 bn (US$4.8 bn) — 26.1% year-on-year growth — marking the first time the bank exceeded its cost of capital since launching its five-year transformation plan in 2024. Management credited a disciplined “AI First” strategy and structural shifts that pushed 19 million clients into fully digital channels while cutting the cost to serve them by 40 times.

Looking into 2026, management committed to directing a cumulative BRL 450 bn (US$87.1 bn) toward socio-environmental activities by December 2026, after surpassing its 2021–2025 target with BRL 381.9 bn (US$73.9 bn) already allocated. The bank also signed an investment agreement through its indirectly controlled Atlântica Hospitais to expand a hospital partnership with Rede D’Or, broadening its healthcare insurance footprint.

What to watch

• ROE trajectory: At 13.4%, return on equity is improving but still trails Itaú Unibanco. Whether the digital overhaul closes that gap is the central question for equity investors.
• Loan growth vs. quality: Management targets 8.5–10.5% loan portfolio growth and aims to expand the digital client base to 40 million by 2026. Keeping bad loans under control as the book grows faster is the key risk.
• Brazil’s interest rates: Brazilian benchmark rates remain high, compressing borrowers but widening the bank’s lending margin — any rate shift reshapes results quickly.
• Restructured loans: The over-90-day delinquency ratio held at 4.1% for three straight quarters; the restructured portfolio fell 23% in 12 months — sustained improvement here would be the clearest sign the credit cycle has turned.

This is news, not investment advice.