ACAPULCO, Mexico (Reuters) - Banorte, Mexico's No. 5 bank, expects its loan portfolio to grow 22 percent in 2007 and sees strong demand for credit in the next five years, a top bank official said on Thursday.
Banorte (GFNORTEO.MX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the last big Mexican financial group in local hands, saw a 20 percent increase in loans last year.
Chief Executive Luis Pena told the Reuters Latin American Investment Summit the bank was benefiting from high demand for consumer credit and mortgages due to Mexico's financial stability and a housing boom in many cities.
As a result, Banorte's loan portfolio should keep growing strongly over the next five years, Pena said.
"I believe this loan growth is going to continue for the next five years, and at particularly high rates for consumer credit and small businesses," Pena said, adding that he believed Banorte's portfolio was well balanced between housing, company loans and consumer finance.
Pena said he was focused on expanding its U.S. and Mexican operations, especially at its Texan subsidiary Inter National Bank (INB), and ruled out looking for acquisitions in Central and South America.
He added he was eager to stress that the March takeover of two banks in Venezuela was by a minority shareholder in Mexican tortilla company Gruma (GRUMAB.MX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), not by Banorte, even though the two groups are controlled by the same owner, Mexican tycoon Roberto Gonzalez.
"This doesn't have anything to do with Gruma or Banorte or Roberto," Pena said. "We have no plans to move into Central or South America," he added.
(Additional reporting by Fabian Cambero in Caracas) .
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