The popular group held its Annual Extraordinary-Ordinary General Assembly of Shareholders, where it reported on the results obtained in 2021 by this parent company and its group of subsidiary companies, with sustained growth and healthy financial indicators in the context of the global economic recovery, still conditioned by the effects of health restrictions.
“These achievements were possible thanks to a management focused on facilitating the return to normal activity in our country and to the work carried out by the excellent teams of collaborators that make up the companies of this financial organization,” said the president before the shareholders. of the Board of Directors of popular groupManuel A. Grullon.
For his part, beyond the economic results, the executive president of the popular groupManuel E. Jiménez F., highlighted “the main initiatives and impacts in social and environmental matters” developed by the institution, “which create shared value with our stakeholders and respond to the sustainable vision that we have as a responsible corporate citizen” .
Increase in share capital
When meeting as an Extraordinary General Assembly, the assembly members approved to increase the authorized capital stock of popular group in 5,000 million pesos, up to 25,080 million pesos, with the aim of subscribing new shares for reinvestment of profits.
As an Annual Ordinary General Meeting, the shareholders were informed of the Annual Management Report of the Board of Directors, the financial statements that show the situation of assets and liabilities, the profit and loss statement and other accounts and balances, the report of the auditor and that of the external auditors of PricewaterhouseCoopers, on the exercise of the organization.
The shareholders approved the management of the Board of Directors and decided on matters relating to the profits for the fiscal year, as well as the distribution of dividends.
Likewise, they ratified the appointment of Cynthia T. Vega as a member of the Board of Directors, and appointed, for the corresponding period, the secretary and the members of the Board of Directors that make up the Group.
The assembly appointed the firm KPMG Dominicana as the external auditors between 2022 and 2024, and met the budget for the current year and the issues presented by the Board of Directors and the shareholders.
Quantitative results
As indicated in a press release, the Chairman of the Board of Directors informed the assembly members that, in quantitative terms, the total consolidated assets of popular group and its affiliated companies reached 708,503 million pesos, for an increase of 8.3% or 54,544 million pesos more, compared to 2020.
Meanwhile, the consolidated net loan portfolio rose to 412,671 million pesos, with a percentage growth of 7.8%, exceeding the amount of a year before by 29,799 million pesos. Likewise, total consolidated deposits closed at 530,774 million pesos, equivalent to an increase of 8%. The patrimonial funds that support the operations of the popular group and its affiliated companies rose last year to 108,533 million pesos, after a growth of 14,696 million pesos.
The activities carried out by its local and international subsidiaries allowed popular group Present consolidated gross profits of 20,902 million pesos which, once the 4,798 million pesos of the Income Tax payment have been reduced, resulted in consolidated net profits of 16,104 million pesos.
Subsidiary performance
Regarding the performance of the subsidiaries of the popular groupManuel A. Grullón reported that the main subsidiary, Banco Popular Dominicano, increased its total assets by 9%, its gross loan portfolio increased by 9% and total deposits rose by 9%.
The Popular Pension Fund Administrator (AFP Popular) facilitated its transition to a digital model and ended the year with 1,354,061 affiliates and 604,868 contributors, which represents a market share of 31.6% and 33.0%, respectively.
Regarding Servicios Digitales Popular, a subsidiary oriented to the processing of digital transactions with cards and other digital means of payment, it obtained, through its commercial brand AZUL, a 43% growth in billing over the previous year, with 37,000 terminals and more than 96 million transactions processed in 2021.
Meanwhile, Avance, a subsidiary of Servicios Digitales Popular, consolidated its growth with a 39.4% increase in cash advance requests last year, for a total of 2,749 working capital advances.
Regarding the subsidiaries that operate in the stock market, the Inversiones Popular brokerage reached total assets of 16,738 million pesos, ranking among the largest brokerages in the market, and obtained net profits of 423 million pesos, with a return on equity of 22.38%.
For its part, the Popular Investment Fund Administrator (AFI Popular) closed 2021 with a total of managed assets of 9,219 million pesos, for an increase of 14% compared to 2020.
Meanwhile, Fiduciaria Popular, dedicated to the trust business, ended 2021 with 39,352 million pesos in managed assets, growing 101% compared to 2020, and with 65 signed trusts.
As for Popular Bank Ltd, a banking subsidiary with an international license, it reached total assets of 1,418 million dollars, exceeding the projected objective by 59 million dollars and increasing 34 million dollars compared to the previous year. Its total assets amounted to 316 million dollars and it presented a liquidity position of 47.58%, higher than the 30% required by regulation.
