BANCO ITAÚ PARAGUAY S.A.

What it is

Banco Itaú Paraguay S.A. is a Paraguayan bank and subsidiary of Brazilian giant Itaú Unibanco. It operates through two main commercial arms — retail banking for individuals, and corporate banking serving agribusiness, large companies, and investment-banking clients — plus an institutional treasury.

Among all banks in Paraguay, Itaú finished first in cumulative net profit in 2024. By total assets, it ranked third in the local financial system, with assets of G.

35,808,055 million — a 9.7% rise on the year before.

Who owns it

The bank was founded in 1978 as Interbanco S.A., a vehicle of the National Bank of Minas Gerais; in 1995 it was acquired by Unibanco, and in 2010 — after the 2008 Itaú-Unibanco merger — it was renamed Banco Itaú Paraguay S.A. Operations under the Itaú brand formally began in 2010.

The direct shareholders recorded in the audited financial statements are ITB Holding Brasil Participações Ltda. and Itaú Unibanco S.A. — both vehicles of the São Paulo-based Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. group.

The exact percentage split between those two holding vehicles is not disclosed in the BVASA filing; the beneficial owner in all scenarios is Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A., one of Latin America’s largest private-sector banks.

Who runs it

The audited financial statements (signed 25 February 2025, Ernst & Young Paraguay) show André Gailey as board President (Presidente del Directorio) and Verónica Ovelar as chief accountant (Contadora). The operational chief executive is José Britez Infante, who has served as CEO since December 2020.

Britez is the first Paraguayan national to hold the top job, replacing Brazilian André Gailey in the executive role.

Before becoming CEO, Britez held senior roles within the bank including Head of Retail Bank and Head of Agribusiness. Under the group’s broader Paraguay strategy, the holding has also set up Itaú Invest, Itaú Asset Management, and Itaú Insurances in the country.

The money, in plain words

In 2024 the bank earned a net profit of G. 1,275,405 million (~$210M USD), up from G.

1,396,678 million before the income tax charge of G. 121,272 million — an effective tax rate of 8.7%.

That net result was 9.2% higher than 2023’s.

For every guaraní of gross income the bank kept roughly 39 cents as net profit — a net margin of ~39.2% (our calculation), exceptional even by regional banking standards. For every guaraní of shareholders’ money deployed, it earned back about 31 cents — a return on equity of 30.68%, the bank’s own reported figure, up from 27.96% in 2023.

In 2024 the bank distributed dividends of G. 1,124,550 million (~$185.5M USD) to shareholders — a year when no dividends had been paid in 2023.

Deposits reached G. 24,855,145 million (~$4.1B USD), and the total loan book grew 31.6% to G.

23,199,082 million (~$3.8B USD).

What it is doing now

In 2023 the group acquired Pont S.A., enabling the launch of Pik — a device and app for accepting card payments from all banks — expanding the bank’s footprint in Paraguay’s payments market. The bank’s 2024 annual report also covers Itaú Invest, Itaú Asset Management, Itaú Seguros, and Pont as the full complement of group companies operating in Paraguay.

In 2024 Banco Itaú Paraguay celebrated its 46th anniversary of operations in the country. The bank’s loan book surged 31.6% in a single year — well ahead of the 17.6% system average — signalling an aggressive push for market share in corporate and agribusiness lending, even as it kept its non-performing loan ratio at 1.77%, below the 2.27% system average.

What to watch

• Capital adequacy: The Basel (capital adequacy) ratio fell from 23.90% in 2023 to 19.19% in 2024 — a direct consequence of the 32% credit-book expansion. A continued lending push could squeeze this buffer further.
• Loan quality: A 31.6% jump in lending in one year is fast. Any slowdown in Paraguay’s agricultural export cycle could push non-performing loans higher.
• Dividend policy: The bank paid out G. 1,124,550 million in 2024 after paying nothing in 2023. Whether that payout level is sustained — or the parent extracts further cash — is the key shareholder question.
• Leadership stability: With Britez as the first Paraguayan CEO, the bank has signalled a local-leadership model; any change at the top would be a significant signal for strategy.
• Exchange liquidity: TAU.PY is listed on the BVASA but live market pricing is not published in available exchange data, limiting price discovery for international investors.

This is news, not investment advice.