The Covid-19 will have a large impact on our economy. Estimates from local economists point to a GDP drop between 2.6% and 5.2% in FY 2020 ($2.5B to $5B). However, this confinement period will not affect all businesses and employees in Puerto Rico equally. In this information "capsule" we will identify the employee groups most vulnerable to the effects of Covid-19 amongst the main sectors of our economy
The economic uncertainty that Puerto Rico has experienced in recent years has had a negative effect on the market value of banks that have their main operations located in the Island. However, the solid performance of local banks in terms of profitability and capital adequacy has translated into important increases in market capitalization, eliminating or significantly reducing their market risk premium.
In general, Puerto Rico hospitals score lower than the national average in quality metrics, based on reports from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Hospital Compare database. The difference is significant in metrics related to readmission, mortality, and Emergency Department (ED) care. In this Insight we analyze several of these outcomes and explore the possible reasons behind them.
On October 21st First BanCorp., the bank holding company of FirstBank Puerto Rico (FirstBank), announced the acquisition of Banco Santander Puerto Rico (BSPR) for a $63M premium to BSPR’s core tangible common equity ($362M) in an all cash transaction. In this insight we will analyze the expected new market shares in the Puerto Rico banking sector after this acquisition and the recently announced purchase of Scotiabank operations by Oriental Bank.
The available indicators related to the Puerto Rico economy show mixed signs for the short and medium terms. There seems to be an economic deceleration despite still robust business activity in certain sectors. In this insight we evaluate the most recent economic indicators’ trends and detail the sectors driving the recent private employment increases in Puerto Rico.
The announced acquisition of Scotiabank’s operations in Puerto Rico by Oriental Bank comes after a long period of consolidation in the island’s banking sector. Through this acquisition, Oriental Bank will increase its assets and deposits market shares from 10% and 9% to 16% and 14%, respectively, and will significantly strengthen its position in the mortgage origination and servicing businesses.
The PR banking sector footprint has reduced significantly in the past years. Despite having fewer branches, banks have managed to increase deposits by 28% since 2016. As we will explain in this insight there is opportunity for footprint expansion in some areas as well as further consolidation in others. In the short term the footprint reduction is likely to continue driven by the Scotiabank acquisition by Oriental.
Hospitals play a key role in the provision of health services to Puerto Rico citizens. In recent years they have been operating in a complicated environment where several industry trends have been hurting their profitability. That situation has only been aggravated by Hurricane María. Consolidation, both across the hospital sector but also vertically along the health system may help turn these trends around.
Con la temporada de huracanes a la vuelta de la esquina, hay que recordar que las personas con problemas cardíacos y respiratorios, diabéticos y enfermos de Alzheimer son los más vulnerables, y que los accidentes, los suicidios y las septicemias se multiplican tras un huracán. Aparte de ver las causas del aumento de muertes por María, en este Insight nos preguntamos qué se ha hecho para mitigar el impacto de futuros huracanes.
