Itaúsa posted 123% higher profit in the first quarter

Itisa’s profit doubled in the first quarter, as the holding company benefited from the performance of its major assets, which is Itaú Unibanco.

The company, which also owns stakes in Alpargatas, Duratex, Copagaz and NTS, announced Monday that its recurring earnings from January to March were R $ 2.4 billion, up 123% over the same period. Profit of R $ 2.2 billion was 118% higher than the previous year.

Last week, Itaú Unibanco reported recurring earnings of R $ 6.4 billion for the first quarter, higher than analysts’ estimates and 63.6% higher in one year, mainly due to a 59% decline in bad debt provisions.

Itai accounted for 89% of Itaisa’s score for the quarter. This proportion tends to fall further, as Italy has been buying stakes in non-financial companies.

Last month, it bought 8.5% of the sanitation company Aegea for R $ 1.3 billion. A few days later, Aegea paid R $ 15.4 billion and won the tender to buy lots 1 and 4 of Cedae in Rio de Janeiro, at an auction in B 3.

And with the Canadian firm Brookfield, it bought from Petrobras An additional 10% stake in the pipeline company Nova Transportadora do Sudeste (NTS) for R $ 1.8 billion.