SAO PAULO, Feb 27 (Reuters) -
Brazilian financial services provider XP Inc. posted on Tuesday a 33% rise in net profit for the fourth quarter, with its fixed income segment and stronger debt dealmaking pushing its revenue higher.
XP, which operates as a brokerage and adviser on deals, posted a 1.04 billion-real ($210.80 million) net profit for the quarter ended in December. Net revenue rose 27% to 4.05 billion reais in the quarter ended.
Its main retail business, through which it intermediates investments from individual investors, reported a 24% rise in gross revenues. Equities - a segment where it has been struggling to accelerate growth - increased 19%, but at a lower pace compared to fixed income, which jumped 76% as interest rates stayed in the double digits in Brazil.
In the first three quarters of the year, XP's revenues at its equities segment for retail customers were flat, with executives blaming high interest rates in the country, despite their fall in the second half of last year.
"While we recognize that there may be a delay for retail investors to shift their behavior in a more favorable market environment, we are confident that this positive cycle will come eventually," said XP CEO Thiago Maffra.
"The initiation of the monetary easing cycle by the (Brazilian) Central Bank and the improving market conditions are positive signals for our core investments business," Maffra said.
XP's net income also was boosted by its dealmaking advisory business, with gross revenues rising 85% to 508 million reais. The firm attributed the result to strong debt issuance activity and contribution from mergers and acquisitions.
JPMorgan analysts wrote in a report to clients that XP's results were mostly in line with their estimates.
"We find this mostly a neutral quarter with good revenues resilience and higher cost of goods sold," the analysts said.
Separately, XP said on Tuesday its board approved a new program to buyback up to 2.5 million Class A common shares until Dec. 27.
($1 = 4.9335 reais) (Reporting by Paula Arend Laier and Andre Romani; Editing by Steven Grattan and Deepa Babington)
