Colombia's largest bank Bancolombia will continue with its strategy of product segmentation and increased small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) lending after its forthcoming merger with two local financial institutions, the bank said in a press release.
Bancolombia's shareholders gave the green light this week for the bank to merge with home lender Conavi and investment bank Corfinsura.
The shareholders also approved the bank's 2004 results that showed a 39% increase in profits to 430bn pesos (US$179m) compared to the previous year.
The bank will distribute a quarterly dividend of 94 pesos per share this year, which is 38% higher than in 2004, according to the statement.
Bancolombia is the biggest bank in the Colombian financial system with a 13.6% market share in terms of assets at 13.8trillion pesos.
