Goldman Sachs Maintains Neutral On Credicorp

Goldman Sachs has published a research report on Credicorp Ltd. BAP as the company is believed to be well-positioned to capture strong growth in Peru. In the report, Goldman Sachs writes "Credicorp's 3Q2010 EPS was slightly below our estimate primarily due to lower margins. On the positive side, loans continue to grow at a rapid rate, and asset quality continued to improve despite higher provisions. We change our estimates to incorporate 3Q2010 results and to reflect stronger loan growth in 2010-2011, however with a lower margin outlook as a result of higher funding costs. Funding costs were negatively impacted by higher reserve requirements on US$ deposits. Putting everything together, we decrease our 2010E (US$7.26) - 2011E (US$9.08) recurring EPS by 1.5% and 1.4%, respectively. For 2012E, however, we increase our recurring EPS by 2.1%, to US$10.91." Goldman Sachs maintains its Neutral rating and has raised the price target to $127. Credicorp closed yesterday at $120.63.