Launched as an Intermedium bank in the mid-1990s, Inter, linked to the controlling group of the developer MRV, was, for a long time, a small financial institution dedicated to real estate financing in the region of Belo Horizonte. In 2016, under the command of João Vitor Menin, the traditional bank from Minas Gerais decided to go beyond cement and bricks and experiment with clicks. It changed its name to Banco Inter and became a digital bank. Some time later, it cleared the “bank” of its logo and became just Inter, repositioning itself as a financial products distribution platform. Investors liked the idea. In early 2018, Inter listed its shares on B3 valued at around R$ 2 billion. In March of this year, the capitalization of the financial institution reached close to R$ 40 billion, due to the good prospects for digital companies.
However, at the end of September, the perception of the bank changed. Published news – and quickly denied by Inter – raised the hypothesis that the third quarter figures, which will be released at the end of October, bring an increase in provisions for bad debts, indicating a deterioration in the quality of the credit portfolio. Despite the bank’s denial, investors didn’t like it and the shares collapsed, leading losses at B3 in that session. Prices later recovered, and led valuations a few days later, when Inter announced it would go private on B3 and list its shares on Nasdaq.
Let there be heart. Two days later, on Monday (11), the shares returned to a downturn with the news that the Central Bank (BC) had placed in public consultation a change in regulation to limit the interoperability fees of prepaid card companies . In current Portuguese, this means that banks will profit less from credit card transactions.
The result of all this is that the bank, today, is about to list its shares in a market more receptive to growth companies than the Brazilian trading floor. “Nasdaq has more investors willing to take on the risks of a company with high potential”, said the partner at consultancy Peers, Miguel Vieira. Sought, Inter did not grant an interview.