Banco Santander Mexico will invest 11,000 million pesos in 2022, which represents a figure never seen before, said its executive president and general director, Héctor Grisi Checa.
In a meeting with the media, he explained that said investment will be for systems, infrastructure and digital development, and stressed that the bank had never invested that figure, despite the fact that this Wednesday the Spanish group to which it belongs reported that it had acquired another part of the shares of its Mexican subsidiary to stay with just over 96 percent.
Grisi Checa pointed out that said investment demonstrates the commitment of the Bank with Mexico.
“It shows the important commitment we have to continue growing in Mexico, continue investing, because we continue to believe in Mexico, Mexico is a great market ”, he emphasized.
This Wednesday the matrix hunt for Santander reported that, after the public offer for the acquisition of shares (OPA) in recent months, increased its stake in the Mexican subsidiary from 91.6% to 96.1%.
In this regard, Héctor Grisi commented that the reason for this operation is that the local market is not recognizing the value of the bank. Even so, he reiterated his commitment to continue investing in the country.
“I think the market is not recognizing the value we are having. What we are doing, and the truth is that it is very cheap (the price of the action). For Santander it is much more interesting to invest in Mexico and continue to grow in the country, “he said.
He added: “as we see such a good horizon for the future, then if people do not believe it, because it is not reflected in the share price, Santander if you believe it and we are investing, we are making a much more important investment ”.
Performance in pandemic was good
The executive president of Santander He mentioned that during the pandemic, the bank’s performance was good, despite the difficult season.
“We have had a positive behavior of the portfolio, there are opportunities to grow, to continue investing,” he said.
He considered that, given the current environment, it is expected to return to the 2019 numbers in 2022 or at the latest in the first quarter of 2023.
“The important thing here is going to be how the demand for credit behaves; that people feel much calmer; feel much more comfortable to be able to demand a little more credit. We are already beginning to see it, the good ending, the truth is that it had a very good closing, the preliminary numbers are good. I think people are having a little more confidence and the issue is moving forward ”, he emphasized.
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