Profitability in Multiple Brazilian Banks and Credit Unions

Abstract The financial system plays a crucial role in any economy. Factors such as strong regulation of the banking sector, measurement and evaluation in terms of performance and efficiency has been important for financial institutions. The long-term sustainability of cooperatives and banks demand the identification and comparison of variables that influence their profitability. The present study carried out an analysis of a panel of institutions between 2009 and 2013 with similar characteristics. The results indicate that the return on assets of these institutions was affected by loans, efficiency (measured using data envelopment analysis), total expenses, total deposits, other income and the Selic rate. However, return on equity was influenced by total deposits, loans, Selic rate, GDP, inflation, other income and total expenses. In the sample studied, the results indicated that there is no statistical difference if the financial institution is classified as a multiple bank or credit union, when considering ROE as a performance measure.