Earnings Call Transcript - BBAR Q4 2025

Operator, Operator

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to BBVA Argentina's 4Q '25 and Fiscal Year 2025 Results Conference Call. Today with us are Mrs. Belén Fourcade, Investor Relations Manager; Diego Cesarini, IRO; and Mrs. Carmen Morillo, CFO, who will be available for the Q&A session. This presentation and the 4Q '25 earnings release are available on BBVA's Investor Relations website, ir.bbva.com.ar, and will also be available for download in the chat. First of all, let me point out that some of the statements made during this conference call may be forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions found in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 under U.S. federal securities law. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. Additional information concerning these factors is contained in BBVA Argentina's annual report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year 2024 filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. I will now turn the call over to Mrs. Belén Fourcade. Please go ahead.

María Belén Fourcade, Investor Relations Manager

Good morning, and thank you all for joining us today. After a third quarter that was marked by political instability with its consequent monetary and exchange rate tensions, the results of the midterm legislative elections reaffirmed support for the government's fiscal reform and order policy. This translated into a rapid normalization of financial variables, which returned to pre-event levels. BBVA Argentina continues to consolidate its growth strategy, reflecting its commitment to being a key player in Argentina's recovery of activity. This was achieved despite a year ultimately marked by interest rate volatility in the second half and the progressive deterioration of credit quality within specific segments of the retail portfolio. In this line, on December 22, 2025, the bank secured a credit line of up to $150 million from the International Finance Corporation. These funds allow BBVA to expand its financing capacity for small- and medium-sized enterprises, thereby reaffirming its commitment to the productive sector. BBVA Argentina's non-performing loan ratio on private loans reached 4.18% as of December 2025, a figure that remains below the system average of 5.29% for the same period. The bank stands out for having consistently lower delinquency ratios than the sector average, which reflects the quality of its credit risk management and its prudent approach to portfolio origination. Before diving into numbers, it is important to mention that on December 10, 2025, the transaction through which BBVA Argentina acquired 50% of the share capital of FCA Compañía Financiera has been closed. This had an ARS 1 billion impact in the P&L and all balance sheet figures include FCA, including loans and deposits. Nonetheless, market shares expressed in this report and on this call do not include FCA as the consolidation was made as of the last day of December. Moving to Slide 2 to 5 of the webcast presentation, I will now comment on the bank's fourth quarter 2025 and 2025 fiscal year financial results. BBVA Argentina's inflation-adjusted net income in 2025 was ARS 267.4 billion, decreasing 43.2% versus 2024. This implies an accumulated ROE of 7.3% and accumulated ROA of 1.1%. The year-over-year decline in results is mainly explained by the deterioration of loan loss allowances in a context of high delinquency ratios in the financial system. Also, in spite of observing a 29.4% lower net interest income as a result of lower interest rates and inflation, this should be considered in comparison to lower losses from the net monetary position, which more than offset the lower NII. It is worth noting the 36.9% increase in net fee income, thanks to a proactive approach in improvements, and also in foreign currency and gold gains, the latter explained by an increase in activity after the partial lift in FX controls on April 14, 2025. In the fourth quarter of 2025, net income was ARS 59.3 billion, increasing 44.5% quarter-over-quarter. This implied a quarterly ROE of 6.5% and a quarterly ROA of 0.9%. Quarterly results were mainly explained by higher income along with lower expenses. The increase in income is mainly due to: one, better net interest income; and two, an increase in results from write-down of assets at amortized cost and OCI. The latter due to the sale of bonds classified in the OCI model. Expenses improved mainly on the side of personnel expenses and administrative expenses. These were negatively offset by, one, loan loss allowances; two, an increase in operating expenses mainly due to turnover tax; and three, lower net fee income in the quarter. Net income from the net monetary position was 32% higher quarter-over-quarter, explained by a higher quarterly inflation. Net interest income in the quarter was ARS 758.9 billion, increasing 20.2% quarter-over-quarter. After the uncertainty surrounding the midterm elections was resolved, average market interest rates declined. With the liabilities repricing at a faster pace than assets, we observed the reverse effect from the one seen in the third quarter of 2025, with income from public securities and loans increasing and expenses from funding increasing, but to a much lower extent. In the year, net interest income decreased 29.4%, as mentioned before, more than offset by the lower losses on the side of the net results from the net monetary position. Loan loss allowances increased 31.3% in the quarter and 181.2% accumulated year-over-year, explained by the deterioration of non-performing loans, in particular, on the retail book, which implied higher provisioning. The effect of loan loss allowances can be observed in the evolution of the cost of risk, which reached 8.11% in the fourth quarter of 2025 and 5.54% on an annual basis. During 2025, personnel and administrative expenses decreased by 11% and 12.6%, respectively. This was achieved, thanks to the active pursuit of efficiencies during the year. During the fourth quarter of 2025, in particular, total operating expenses were ARS 537.5 billion, remaining stable quarter-over-quarter. Both the efficiency ratio as well as the fee to expenses ratio evidence the stability and the improvements that are taking place on these lines of the income statement, and we expect them to improve even further for 2026. Going on to Slide 6 and 7, private sector loans as of the fourth quarter of 2025 totaled ARS 14.8 trillion, increasing 7.6% in real terms quarter-over-quarter and 47.6% year-over-year. In the quarter, growth was mainly driven by an increase in loans in pesos. In total currency, the products that increased the most were mostly commercial loans such as financing of projects and exports and discounted instruments. On the peso portfolio, discounted instruments, pledged loans, and credit cards stood out. Pledged loans are mainly affected by the introduction of FCA into the loan book. In the case of consumer loans, prudency policies taken in a context of higher deterioration of non-performing loans were noticeable on this line with a 2.2% quarter-over-quarter decline. BBVA Argentina's consolidated market share of private sector loans reached 11.91% as of the fourth quarter of 2025, improving 64 basis points from 11.27% a year ago. As for asset quality, the NPL ratio of BBVA Argentina on private loans reached 4.18% as of December 2025. As mentioned before, BBVA is renowned for presenting delinquency ratios consistently below the sector average, which reflects the quality of its credit risk management and its prudent approach to portfolio origination. By the end of 2025, total gross loans and other financing over deposit ratio was 88%, above the 78% in December 2024. Participation of total loans over assets is 57%, the highest since 2020 and above the 51% recovery in 2024. As of the fourth quarter of 2025, the total NIM was 17.5%, higher than the 15.2% in the third quarter of 2025 and below the 20.2% in the fourth quarter of 2024. While the NIM in pesos increased by 277 basis points to 20.2% quarter-over-quarter, the NIM in dollars fell 91 basis points to 4.8%. In the quarter, the increase in NIM is mainly explained by a better yield on public securities and loans in pesos, while the drop in dollar NIM is explained by a higher volume and rate of interest-bearing liabilities. In the accumulated annual comparison, although the total NIM presents a considerable drop, it should be understood that this is a consequence of the rapid decrease in inflation and therefore, the level of rates and is more than offset by the lower cost of inflation adjustment. This can be seen in the adjusted NIM, which dropped from 17.30% to 13.75%. On the funding side, as of the fourth quarter of 2025, total private deposits reached ARS 16.7 trillion, increasing 3.1% quarter-over-quarter and 29.7% year-over-year. The bank's consolidated market share of private deposits as of the fourth quarter of 2025 reached 10.04%, from 8.60% a year ago. Private non-financial sector deposits in pesos totaled ARS 10.5 trillion, a decrease of 1.4% quarter-over-quarter, explained by a decrease in time deposits and in other deposits, including interest-bearing checking accounts. This effect was partially offset by an increase in savings accounts. Private non-financial sector deposits in foreign currency expressed in pesos increased by 11.6% quarter-over-quarter. This is mainly due to an increase in savings accounts and in time deposits. In hard currency, U.S. dollar loans increased 12.7% quarter-over-quarter and 26.6% year-over-year. As of the fourth quarter of 2025, capital ratio reached 18.3%. The quarterly increase in the ratio was due to a 9.4% increase in Common Equity Tier 1, mainly impacted by the recovery in the value of government bonds at fair value through OCI. Public sector exposure, excluding Central Bank totaled ARS 3.9 trillion, implying a 15.5% exposure, below the 16.4% recorded in the third quarter of 2025 and 17.9% in the fourth quarter of 2024. For the year, the drop in exposure is mainly explained by the increase in assets led by the growth of loans over that of financial instruments. It is important to highlight that more than 90% of the National Treasury's public debt portfolio in pesos is at TAMAR floating rate. These bonds represent approximately 65% of the bank's sovereign portfolio, and in the context of higher real interest rates in the second half of the year added value to the financial margin. In the quarter, the liquidity ratio reached a level of 44.2%. The liquidity ratio in local and foreign currency reached 37.7% and 55.2%, respectively. In line with our commitment to generating value for our shareholders, the bank continued the payment of dividends corresponding to the 2024 fiscal year in 10 installments, having paid 9 of the 10 installments required by the Central Bank's regulation up to the date of this report. This concludes our prepared remarks. We will now take your questions.

Operator, Operator

Operator: Our first question comes from Tito Labarta with Goldman Sachs.

Tito Labarta, Analyst

I guess my main question is really on asset quality and how that continues to evolve and what that could mean for loan growth for 2026. We kind of expected already that you're still not out of the credit cycle, but it seems provisions jumped a bit more than expected. NPLs went up a bit. I mean do you still think 1Q, 2Q should be the worst of it? Do you think that can get delayed and the credit cycle can last a bit longer? I just want to understand how comfortable you feel on credit quality stabilizing and potentially improving? And what could that mean for loan growth? You have pretty good loan growth in the quarter, but is there some risk to your ability to grow loans if credit quality does not improve?

Carmen Morillo, CFO

Good morning, everyone. This is Carmen Morillo. Thank you for your question regarding asset quality growth. We believe that these are indeed the main concerns for this year. In 2025, we have successfully gained market share, achieving an increase of 60 basis points to reach 11.91%, which we consider a solid performance. Our credit risk has remained below the system's ratios. However, we anticipate that the first quarter will be challenging. After that, we expect credit indicators to improve. We believe the peak for non-performing loans and the cost of risk will occur in the first quarter. As for growth, it might be too early to provide a definitive answer because it depends on overall financial system growth. Our strategy is focused on increasing market share, and we project system credit growth to be around 18% in real terms, so we aim to exceed that. Our guidance remains set at a growth range of 25% to 30% for 2026, and we don't see a need to change that. Our goal is to grow faster than the market. Additionally, we have also seen growth in deposits throughout 2025, enhancing our transactional engagement with clients. We are confident in our strategy and expect to surpass market performance in deposits as well. I hope this answers your question. Thank you.

Tito Labarta, Analyst

Yes. No, that's helpful, Carmen. I guess how do you think that then translates to profitability for 2026? I mean, do you think you can achieve a double-digit ROE? Can you start getting to like the low teens by the end of the year? Or does that also get delayed a bit and we could see some pressure on profitability?

Carmen Morillo, CFO

We have been consistent in our guidance regarding return on equity, indicating low to mid-teens over the past quarters. As I previously mentioned, the environment is unpredictable. However, we believe it is too early to revise this guidance. We are confident that we will achieve better profitability than this year, which is significantly better than that of the system and our peers. We are pleased with our relative performance, despite facing many challenges this year. Overall, I consider this year a positive one given the circumstances. For next year, we hope to exceed the low to mid-teens, but it’s too early to specify whether it will be low or mid-teens. Nevertheless, I believe we should reach this objective.

Operator, Operator

Our next question comes from Brian Flores with Citi.

Brian Flores, Analyst

Carmen, I wanted to maybe expand a bit on deposits because I think your market share gains were very relevant. You're above the double digit maybe for the first time in some time. So I think it's a very important point. Just wanted to see your strategy, right? Because I think given the conditions that are very tight, maybe the competition for funding intensified. So I just wanted to ask you what's your strategy here? And how do you prevent maybe a spike in the cost of funding?

Diego Cesarini, IRO

Brian, this is Diego Cesarini. I will take this question. It's true that our deposit growth has significantly outpaced the market. Last year, we achieved a 32% growth in real terms, while the overall market grew by approximately 12%. This has led to substantial increases in our market share. We have been focusing on multiple fronts. On one hand, retail deposits have shown signs of recovery. For instance, retail term deposits made up about 30% of our peso deposits a couple of years ago before the elections, but that number fell to 10% after 1.5 years. Last year, we began to notice an increase in investors' interest in that type of deposit, leading us to concentrate efforts on boosting their growth, which now stands at around 15%. Additionally, we have been very active in the deposits from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). We had stepped back from this market a few years ago since we didn't require that funding, but we have re-entered and set aggressive targets for our commercial team. Our success in this area has been considerable, with rapid growth in SME deposits. Lastly, in terms of wholesale deposits, these still represent a significant portion of the Argentine market. Two years ago, we didn't need those deposits, but as we expanded, we began to pursue them again. We are addressing every area, and we have also been increasing our market share in dollar deposits, where we believe there is still potential for further growth.

Brian Flores, Analyst

Super clear. And then a follow-up on Tito's question. Just to summarize, basically, you're envisioning growth as Carmen was saying, 25% to 30% in real terms, I don't know if you could elaborate a bit on the composition because I know you're a bit more on the commercial side in terms of the mix, right? The deposits, do you think they grow above or in line with loans? ROE, you mentioned already maybe low double digits. And then I have maybe another question on asset quality. Do you think cost of risk could be at some point, maybe at the end of 2026, closer to the end of 2024, which is closer to the 5% rather than the 7% we are now?

Diego Cesarini, IRO

Starting with your latest questions. Yes, we think that by the end of this year, it could be reaching the 2024 levels. Of course, it will start at levels that are similar to the end of last year, as Carmen said before. And regarding the composition of our portfolio, I think that maybe in general terms, it will be similar to the one that we have right now. But of course, at the beginning of the year, probably during the first semester, we will be much more focused on big corporations because for obvious reasons, the retail market is still not recovering. So probably consumer loans or credit card loans could suffer a little during the first part of the year and probably in the second semester, things will return to normality.

Carmen Morillo, CFO

Yes. The point is that we will return to credit cards and personal loans when the retail situation is stable enough. Nevertheless, we will focus on mortgages and pledged loans in the retail sector at the beginning of the year. As conditions improve, we will expand back into all products as we did before. On the commercial side, we do not anticipate a significant decline, which is why we believe we will maintain our current mix.

Brian Flores, Analyst

Super clear. And on deposits, just to clarify, do you expect to grow above or below the loan growth?

Carmen Morillo, CFO

Below.

Diego Cesarini, IRO

Below what?

Carmen Morillo, CFO

The loan growth?

Diego Cesarini, IRO

No, I guess below loan growth...

Carmen Morillo, CFO

Above the system.

Diego Cesarini, IRO

Yes. Above the system, probably. But below loan growth just because, well, of course, equity also grows. There are other liabilities that also grow. So we need to grow less in percentage terms in deposits than in loans. That's just mathematics. But as I said before, we still think that we have room to grow. Even if deposits were behaving not so good this year, we still have liquid. We still have bonds in excess. We have a public sector portfolio in excess of what we need to comply with reserve requirements. So we still could use some liquidity in order to keep growing.

Brian Flores, Analyst

Perfect. So if we think of, let's say, a 20% real terms in deposits, that makes sense, right?

Diego Cesarini, IRO

Yes, between 15% and 20% could make sense in a scenario where we grow in loans between 25% and 30%.

Carmen Morillo, CFO

And in both cases, gaining. So the strategy is to gain market share. So it will depend on what the system does.

Operator, Operator

Next question from Carlos Gomez-Lopez with HSBC.

Carlos Gomez-Lopez, Analyst

Carmen, Diego, Belén. First, congratulations on the good result and the gains in market share, which is what you wanted to achieve and the stability of the results. So to ask a few things which are different. First, the dividend for 2025, do you expect it to be able to pay in a single or a discrete number of payments? Or will you still have these 10 different payments that you have had in 2024? And what level of payment are you thinking of doing? Second, on taxes. So when you look at the last 3 years, you've been paying about 34% on average over the last 3 years. Is that a level that you expect for the future? Or should we go back to the statutory rate around 30%? And finally, can you give us an update about when we might move away from inflation accounting? Is that 2028? Or do we have to wait longer?

Carmen Morillo, CFO

Carlos, thank you for your comments. Regarding your question about dividends, we are still uncertain about how we will be able to pay them. I don’t have an answer at this moment, but we believe we will have more information by March. Concerning the amount, we ended with a capital ratio of 18.3% as of 2025. We aim to grow over the coming years, so we plan to maintain a small dividend, similar to what we did last year, to keep a lower payout ratio and facilitate faster growth. Now, about your second question...

Carlos Gomez-Lopez, Analyst

It was on the taxes and inflation. And by the way, what was the payout, in the end last year?

Diego Cesarini, IRO

Last year payout was around 25% of our 2024 net income.

Carlos Gomez-Lopez, Analyst

25%.

Carmen Morillo, CFO

Yes. Then inflation. A couple of months ago, we were thinking about 2027, so by the end of 2027, to be the end of this adjustment. Now we changed a little bit our projections of inflation. So I think it would be prudent to say that 2028 should be the year to go out of this adjustment, but it will be, yes, in 2027, beginning of 2028, something like that.

Diego Cesarini, IRO

Carlos, just to add a piece of information, according to the FX regulation that is in place, we could access in theory to the official FX market to pay dividends this year.

Carmen Morillo, CFO

Okay. Regarding taxes, I don't see a reason for the percentages to change, but I don't have that information at the moment. Let me check on that and get back to you.

Carlos Gomez-Lopez, Analyst

Sure.

Carmen Morillo, CFO

Yes. I believe we should be at those levels, but if we see something different, I will come back to you.

Carlos Gomez-Lopez, Analyst

So at that level, meaning the 30% statutory? Because as I said, this year, almost every quarter, you have had 34% to 41% in my numbers, maybe I'm doing something wrong.

Carmen Morillo, CFO

No. I mean 35%. So around 35%, yes.

Diego Cesarini, IRO

Correct. It should be around 35%.

Operator, Operator

Next question from Pedro Offenhenden with Latin Securities.

Pedro Offenhenden, Analyst

I wanted to ask on cost, how should we think about personnel and administrative expenses during this year?

Carmen Morillo, CFO

Pedro, thank you for your question. This year, meaning 2026, I believe?

Pedro Offenhenden, Analyst

Yes.

Carmen Morillo, CFO

So the improvement we've seen during this year, we believe we will be also improving in 2026. So the trend should continue, not only in terms of being quite aggressive in not growing in expenses, but also due to our better net interest margin, fees and commissions and so on. So the efficiency ratio should go downwards.

Pedro Offenhenden, Analyst

Okay. Do you have a target on the efficiency ratio for the year?

Carmen Morillo, CFO

Around 46%.

Operator, Operator

Our next question comes from Marcos Serú with Allaria.

Matías Cattaruzzi, Analyst

I have a question about the improvement in dollar liquidity observed in the first quarter. The government is hinting at potential changes in regulations regarding dollar lending to clients that do not generate dollars. How do you view this situation? Do you plan to lend in USD to clients who do not produce dollars? Which sectors do you believe would benefit the most?

Diego Cesarini, IRO

Matías, this is Diego. First of all, I want to express that we are quite comfortable with the amount of dollar lending we are producing under the current regulations. We are experiencing growth and have significant demand in our pipeline. By the end of this quarter, even though we are increasing deposits and other forms of dollar funding, we might face liquidity challenges. We are capturing market share in loans while adhering to the current regulations, so we don't require any regulatory changes at this time. However, if regulations evolve to include more sectors, we will need to carefully assess those sectors. It's tough to implement a generalized policy due to the memory of what happened in Argentina 25 years ago when dollar lending was accessible to everyone, which brings significant risk during devaluations. Essentially, our perspective is that we are fully engaged in lending with the existing policies, and we do not need regulatory changes at this moment. Furthermore, if you examine our loan-to-deposit ratios in foreign currency, they currently stand around 55% and are expected to reach about 60% in a couple of months, but reserve requirements in this currency are quite high at approximately 23%. Additionally, we must maintain a certain amount of cash in our branches. We have historically experienced sudden and severe runs on deposits, so we need to remain cautious about customer behaviors regarding these deposits. Therefore, it's crucial for us to maintain significant liquidity in dollar terms, especially since the Central Bank cannot provide banks with dollar loans during emergencies. This is our stance on the matter.

Matías Cattaruzzi, Analyst

Okay. And a follow-up question. Do you have guidance on net interest margin for 2026?

Diego Cesarini, IRO

We do not provide formal guidance on net interest margin, but we prefer to assess this indicator in real terms. When comparing 2024 to 2025, the net interest margin decreased due to falling inflation and a significant drop in interest rates. However, on the other side of our balance sheet, our net income indicates that the cost of inflation has also decreased considerably. Therefore, it's important to look at this in net terms. Generally, we observed that last year we maintained our margins, which were similar to the previous year. For 2026, we anticipate a similar situation, where our net interest margin might slightly decline in real terms, but this decrease will be offset by growth in activity. Thus, this is not a concern for the bank at this time.

Operator, Operator

Our next question comes from Marcos Serú with Allaria. I believe you're having some technical issues. We're going to go ahead with the next person in the queue, which is Matías Cattaruzzi with Adcap.

Marcos Serú, Analyst

I had some trouble with my microphone earlier. First, I wanted to ask about personnel expenses. Can you explain the decrease this quarter, given that the headcount has increased? Next, could you share the assumptions behind your guidance regarding inflation and GDP growth in 2026? Lastly, do you know the breakdown of growth in loans and deposits in pesos versus dollars?

Carmen Morillo, CFO

Okay. Thank you, Marcos, for the questions. Related to the first one, personnel expenses. Yes, so there are some provisions we decided to return. And that's why you see this is true, that you see a different evolution between headcount and expenses. So it's a one-off. This is the short answer for that. Then related to the guidance, I think...

Diego Cesarini, IRO

Regarding inflation, we are expecting right now, our research department is expecting a 22%, regarding GDP, 3% growth, regarding FX, around 1,700. And regarding the mix in growth in loans, in pesos and dollars, we are still expecting dollar loans to grow a little above peso loans. Dollar loans right now represent around 23% of our book. Probably that will reach 25%, 27%. So dollar growth should be around 40% probably in real terms or a little more.

Marcos Serú, Analyst

Okay. Just one question. So do you think that the personnel expenses charged-off this quarter can be adjusted by inflation in order to project the following or which number could be a normalized number?

Carmen Morillo, CFO

I'm not sure if I get your question right, Marcos, sorry.

Marcos Serú, Analyst

If you think that the personnel expense charge-off, this quarter in order to project it, will it growth as inflation growths or which growth do you expect for that charge?

Carmen Morillo, CFO

I would say that the efficiency ratio is going to be lower than this year. Additionally, the overall growth in expenses should be closely tied to inflation.

Operator, Operator

Our next question comes from Brian Flores with Citi.

Brian Flores, Analyst

I just wanted to ask you because everyone, I think, not only you, but other peers have been mentioning the potential recovery of the consumer. Just wanted to ask you, in your view, what are the catalysts here for us to see a recovery and also for them to start, as you mentioned, recovering not only in the demand for credit but also maybe on deposits; I think that would be a great color.

Carmen Morillo, CFO

So thank you for the question. So the short answer should be, so interest rates need to be stable and lower, that's one issue, which is important. And the other one is the micro, the stability. So macro policies are going in the right direction, and we believe that this is also in the right path, but we still need to see what happens with the companies, with the retail, with the salaries in real terms. So it's more complicated than only interest rates. So we believe something else needs to be happening in the country to go back to consumer loans.

Brian Flores, Analyst

Carmen, anything on the regulatory side that you think could really help on either side, either supply or demand of credit?

Diego Cesarini, IRO

A lot of the bad regulations have already been addressed. But of course, everybody is aware that last year, Central Bank monetary policy was very restrictive. Our reserve requirements skyrocketed. So I think that what probably we will need some flexibility on that side from Central Bank in order to keep growing. And we think that that will come with time. I think that right now, of course, the inflation has gone a little above the expected levels. But once that issue is again under track, I think that Central Bank is going to act and start to be less restricted. I think that's the main issue right now.

Operator, Operator

Our next question comes from Ignacio with Invertir en Bolsa.

Ignacio Sniechowski, Analyst

Can you hear me?

Operator, Operator

Yes.

Ignacio Sniechowski, Analyst

Okay. Carmen and Diego, my question was about reserve requirements, but Diego answered that. So I was asking if you expect or see the Central Bank lowering those, which you mentioned would depend on the evolution of inflation. Sorry, it was already answered and...

Diego Cesarini, IRO

Yes, I can provide more details. Regarding reserve requirements, the Central Bank raised these levels last year, but we are able to meet those requirements with bonds, so it doesn't impact our net interest margin. It does not affect our net income, but we do need those funds to continue growing our loan portfolio if there is sufficient demand. Additionally, we are seeking a bit more flexibility because last August we had to meet those requirements daily, which was operationally challenging for us. While they have eased some of those daily requirements, there are still minor issues we believe should be addressed. We are requesting changes, but this has no real impact on net income. That sums up our overall perspective on the matter.

Ignacio Sniechowski, Analyst

Okay. And Diego, one more question. Do you think that wallets and fintechs, having seen that banks have already secured their position with salaries and deposits, will eventually respond to that and potentially reclaim some ground?

Diego Cesarini, IRO

Anything can happen, but I think that the main issue is that the biggest one, Mercado Pago has already asked for a banking license. So we should guess that in any time in the future, they will get that banking license and they will be able to offer the product. So we need to be ready, our products need to be competitive and have a good user experience in order to be in a good position to keep our share. We've been growing on wallet on pay per share. We have around 15% of the total market. And we have been growing consistently through the past year. So I think that we have a good offer for our customers.

Operator, Operator

The Q&A session is over. And now I would like to pass the word back to BBVA's team for final remarks.

Carmen Morillo, CFO

Thank you. Thank you all for attending the conference. And just to highlight that despite the challenge of the environment, we've been going through this year. We believe BBVA Argentina has proven resilience and effective management in the year. So credit growth and non-performing loans levels below the system average and a very solid position in solvency and liquidity are the key issues of our strategy, and we are committed to keep growing in the following quarters and to maintain our efficiency and generate profitability for our shareholders.

Operator, Operator

Thank you. This does conclude today's presentation. You may now disconnect, and have a nice day.