...Banks Resistant to Economic Weakness: Profit generation has kept pace with balance sheet growth among the largest banks. However, slower economic growth in Colombia for the two years ended 2017 contributed to a reduction in lending growth to 6% for the banking system as banks' risk appetite turned more cautious. The limited balance sheet growth and legacy corporate names contributed to asset quality deterioration and underpinned the need for additional loan loss provisions. VRs Drive IDRs: The Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) of Bancolombia, Banco de Bogota (Bogota), Banco Davivienda (Davivienda) and Banco de Occidente (Occidente) are based on their Viability Ratings (VRs). Banco BBVA Colombia's IDRs reflect institutional support from its parent. These ratings also consider the banks' resilient financial performance, which proved effective during the economic down cycle. Asset Quality Deterioration: Despite resilient performance, the largest Colombian banks' loan quality indicators worsened...
