On 21 October, Gentera reported that past-due loans reached 4.57% of its book in the third quarter, up from 3.43% a year earlier and 4.04% in the second quarter. The Mexican financial group is setting aside far more money to cover the damage. Profit still climbed.
Gentera, the parent of Banco Compartamos, posted unaudited net income of MXN 2.342 billion (about US$126 million) for the quarter ended 30 September, up 8.6% from MXN 2.156 billion (about US$116 million) a year earlier. Net income was 0.5% lower than in the second quarter. Over the first nine months of 2026, it totalled MXN 7.189 billion (about US$386 million), up 10.9%. The amount attributable to Gentera shareholders was MXN 2.261 billion (about US$121 million), up 7.7%, or about MXN 1.43 per share (about US$0.08).
Where the Stress Is Showing
The strain is sharpest in Mexico. Banco Compartamos, the group's largest unit and holder of about 65% of its loans, saw its past-due ratio hit 5.20%, compared with 3.51% a year earlier. The unit raised provisions for expected loan losses by 31.7% to MXN 3.753 billion (about US$201 million). Its cost of risk rose to 15.8% from 13.3%. Reserves covered 206.4% of stage 3 loans, Gentera's measure of past-due credit.
Stress is squeezing margins. Net interest margin after provisions slipped to 28.5% from 30.6% a year earlier, and return on average equity fell to 24.5% from 26.0%. Even so, equity equalled 31.5% of total assets, while Banco Compartamos reported a capitalisation ratio of 34.2%. Cash and financial investments reached MXN 20.787 billion (about US$1.12 billion), up 35.7%.
The company says it served a record 6.87 million people in Mexico and Peru. That total includes insurance customers and end users of ConCrédito, not only borrowers.
Management Hits the Brakes
Chief executive Enrique Majós said Gentera was putting prudence ahead of growth and that measures it introduced since the second quarter were helping contain the past-due ratio. The figures show the caution. Banco Compartamos Mexico's loan book fell 1.0% from the second quarter to MXN 61.912 billion (about US$3.32 billion), though it grew 6.5% over 12 months. Its net income rose 1.4% to MXN 1.473 billion (about US$79 million).
Majós said double-digit loan growth would return once there was more evidence that credit quality had stabilised. He gave no date. The report didn't establish whether the past-due ratio had peaked.
Growth Elsewhere in the Group
Other units moved in the opposite direction. Compartamos Banco in Peru grew its loan book 11.6% to MXN 26.431 billion (about US$1.42 billion), or 11.9% in local currency, with net income up 20.0% to MXN 468 million (about US$25 million). ConCrédito, a Mexican consumer lender that sells through about 84,000 distributors, reached a record loan book of MXN 6.878 billion (about US$369 million). Its loans grew 14.4%, and net income rose 40.6% to MXN 268 million (about US$14 million).
Interest income across the group rose 6.7% to MXN 13.247 billion (about US$711 million). Operating expenses grew 4.8% to MXN 6.369 billion (about US$342 million), below the company's original full-year expectation. The group is based in Mexico City, listed on the Mexican Stock Exchange as GENTERA*, and also runs an insurance business and a network of payment agents.
Shareholder Payout
The company is paying a dividend approved on 10 April in two parts. Its second and final payment, about MXN 1.64 billion (about US$88 million), is due on 13 November, 22 days from now. The company didn't report its share-price reaction, and no analyst consensus was available. The figures are unaudited and may be revised in annual accounts.
Why This Matters: Gentera's customers are largely people who borrow in small amounts, often because mainstream credit isn't available to them. When the share of loans going unpaid climbs by more than a point in a year, it signals pressure on households and small businesses, and the report doesn't say why. Gentera's cushion is substantial: reserves above 200% of past-due loans and a 34.2% capitalisation ratio at its main bank. But the same quarter shows profit growing while provisions swell by nearly a third and lending in Mexico shrinks. That raises a fair question about who absorbs the pain of rising defaults, and how regulators and lenders monitor high-cost credit when borrowers are stretched. The company hasn't said when faster lending will resume, and the report doesn't establish that the worst has passed.
- gentera
- banco compartamos
- mexico
- quarterly earnings
- bad loans
- consumer lending
- concrédito
- peru