10/01/2008 14h24
Brand of Brazilian bank is more valuable
Valor Econômico - 10/01/2008
While the brand value of the American financial institutions faces a free fall - with losses of US$ 10 billion in 2007 compared to the previous year - Brazilian banks increasingly strengthen their names, according to Interband international consultant. Together, the names of the Itaú, Bradesco, Banco do Brasil and Unibanco banks are today worth US$ 2.42 billion more than one year ago. The results can be seen in the first edition of Interbrand's ranking of the Latin America 50 most valuable brands, published this week. The variation is the result of the comparison between the Latin-American and the Brazilian rankings of 2007, which uses the same criteria. At that time, the three winning brands were the same: Itaú, Bradesco and Banco do Brasil, in this order. This year, the Itaú brand was the one which most increased its value: a 31% high, to R$ 10.5 billion (US$ 5.5 billion). "Itaú has been generating sustainable economic results, with good management, attractive market value and sustainability agenda", said the vice-president of the bank Antônio Matias. For Alejandro Pinedo, director of Interbrand in Brazil, the country is not immune from the crisis, but it has remained away from the "tsunami" that is devastating Wall Street. "Compared to them, we are only feeling a gentle swell", plays Pinedo.
