SAO PAULO, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Brazilian lender Itau Unibanco may pay out extraordinary dividends for 2024, CEO Milton Maluhy Filho said on Tuesday, a day after the bank announced it would pay 11 billion reais ($2.22 billion) from the previous year's earnings.
The executive did not specify a payout target for the year beyond the required minimum of 30%, but said "it's quite possible ... that there will again be an extraordinary dividend next year." Itau is Brazil's largest private lender.
Last year's payout stood at 60.3%, totaling 21.5 billion reais ($4.34 billion), including the amount announced on Monday.
"Don't look at this extraordinary dividend as an isolated event," he said in a conference call with analysts.
On Monday, Itau reported 22.6% growth in recurring net income for the fourth quarter, reaching 9.40 billion reais and in line with analysts' expectation.
Itau unveiled fresh forecasts expecting its loan book to grow between 6.5% and 9.5% this year, speeding up from the 3.1% yearly growth it reported in 2023.
Maluhy Filho said the weak growth last year was due to exchange rate effects, drawing attention to the credit performance in Brazil, which saw its loan book grow by 5.7%.
The bank's delinquency rate for individuals should fall again this quarter, the CEO said, as Itau has been producing higher quality loans.
"This helps to bring down default risks to another level," he said.
($1 = 4.9580 reais) (Reporting by Paula Arend Laier, additional reporting by Alberto Alerigi Jr.; Writing by Peter Frontini Ediitng by David Ljunggren)
