Bladex Outlines 2030 Strategy to Drive Sustainable Growth and Higher Returns at Investor Day
PANAMA CITY, March 25, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Bladex (NYSE:BLX, or ", the Bank", )), a Panama-based multinational founded by the central banks of 23 Latin American and Caribbean countries to promote foreign trade and economic integration in the region, today hosted its 2026 Investor Day, "Our 2030 Vision."
At the virtual event, Chairman Miguel Heras, Chief Executive Officer Jorge Salas, Chief Financial Officer Annette Van Hoorde, and members of senior management reviewed the successful delivery of Bladex's 2022–2026 strategic plan and presented the Bank's roadmap to 2030: scaling its regional trade franchise into a more diversified, increasingly transactional banking platform while maintaining its conservative risk profile and investment-grade discipline.
Chairman Miguel Heras highlighted the institution's transformation since 2019, when the Board and management aligned to modernize the operating model while preserving its culture of strong risk discipline.
"The most important outcome of the past four years is not only our financial performance, but the transformation of the institution. We strengthened our culture, enhanced governance, and built the capabilities to continue building Bladex into a true trade bank for Latin America. That transformation has driven record performance, a stronger funding profile, and higher fee-based income, positioning the Bank to execute on its 2030 plan. Our 2030 strategy is grounded in execution, not aspiration," said Heras.
Delivered ahead of plan
Chief Executive Officer Jorge Salas reviewed the delivery of the 2022–2026 plan, noting that Bladex met or exceeded its main financial and strategic objectives ahead of schedule while preserving its low–risk DNA. Between 2021 and 2025, the commercial portfolio grew 71%, lending spread expanded by 86 basis points, reserve coverage strengthened, the cost–to–income ratio improved from 38.3% to 26.7%, and ROE more than doubled. The Bank's transformation also translated into stronger market recognition, including a tripling of the share price, cumulative shareholder returns of 243% that outperformed comparable market benchmarks, and a near tripling of average daily trading volume.
"The next phase for Bladex is about capturing more of the value embedded in the client flows we already finance. By adding transactional services in a gradual and disciplined way, we can improve our funding mix, expand fee generation, and strengthen the resilience of our earnings without changing the core nature of our model," said Salas.
2030 strategy focused on disciplined growth, funding optimization, and fee expansion
Looking ahead, Bladex's 2030 strategic plan is anchored on three pillars: disciplined growth, lower cost of funds, and a higher contribution from non-interest income. This next phase builds on the Bank's existing strengths and the opportunity to deepen relationships and increase share of wallet within its current client franchise. The strategy is designed to improve earnings quality and resilience without changing the Bank's business model.
A central component of the next phase is the gradual rollout of transactional services, enabling Bladex to capture a larger share of deposits, payments, and related fee opportunities associated with the trade flows it already finances. Management also highlighted continued focus on deeper client monetization, improved pricing, stronger cross-sell, and greater penetration across its four core verticals: Structured Trade Finance, Letters of Credit, Syndications, and Project Finance & Infrastructure.
Treasury is expected to play a larger role in fee generation and funding efficiency through FX and derivatives capabilities that generate fee-based non-interest income, as well as local and multi-currency funding solutions that improve funding efficiency and enable local currency lending without FX exposure.
To support the 2030 agenda, Bladex is continuing to strengthen execution enablers across commercial excellence, data readiness, platform modernization, and selective AI deployment, while maintaining disciplined investment and preserving operating efficiency. Together, they are expected to reinforce execution capacity and support the next wave of productivity improvement across the Bank.
Strategic evolution and new brand identity
In line with this new phase, Bladex introduced its new brand identity, reflecting the transformation the institution is driving.
The new image, more modern and aligned with what the Bank is today and what it is building, supports its evolution toward a more diversified and increasingly transactional platform, in line with its growth strategy and its role as a bridge between Latin America and global financial markets.
Along this path, Bladex reaffirms its purpose of driving the region's development, bridging, connecting and propelling opportunities for its clients and for Latin America.
Scaling while preserving risk discipline
Management emphasized that the 2030 plan represents an evolution in complexity, not a change in Bladex's risk philosophy. As the business becomes more transactional, the Bank expects greater non-financial risk in areas such as operations, technology, compliance, and financial crime, and is addressing it through tighter controls, stronger monitoring, and continued investment in governance, infrastructure, analytics, and specialized capabilities.
Financial risk remains anchored in Bladex's underwriting discipline, short-tenor U.S. dollar-based portfolio, focus on high-quality clients, and strong capital and liquidity buffers.
Financial outlook to 2030
Chief Financial Officer Annette Van Hoorde outlined a clear financial path to 2030, supported by a more diversified and capital-efficient earnings profile anchored in disciplined portfolio growth, a higher contribution from non-interest income, and funding optimization.
"This is not simply balance-sheet growth. It is structural improvement in the quality, mix, and scalability of earnings," Van Hoorde said. "We are enhancing the economics of the business through a better revenue mix, stronger funding, and disciplined growth, supporting sustainable returns without increasing risk."
By 2030, the Bank targets:
- Commercial portfolio of $18–$20 billion
- Net interest margin of approximately 2.30%
- Non-interest income of approximately $125 million
- Efficiency ratio of 25%–27%
- Adjusted ROE of 16%–17%
- Tier 1 capital ratio of 15%–16%.
The Bank expects to reinvest a meaningful portion of earnings to support growth while returning value to shareholders through dividends, based on a payout ratio of around 40% over time.
These targets reflect a more resilient and scalable model, with greater earnings diversification and lower sensitivity to rate cycles over time.
Closing remarks
In closing, Chief Executive Officer Jorge Salas reiterated that Bladex is entering its next phase of growth from a position of proven execution.
"We have demonstrated our ability to deliver disciplined growth, and we are now scaling that model. The next phase, including the introduction of transactional services, will strengthen our funding profile, expand fee generation and enhance resilience while preserving our low-risk, selective approach. The model is not changing. It is scaling," Salas said.
About Bladex
Bladex, a multinational bank originally established by the central banks of Latin American and Caribbean countries, began operations in 1979 to promote foreign trade and economic integration in the region. The Bank, headquartered in Panama, also has offices in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and the United States, and a Representative License in Peru, supporting regional expansion and servicing its customer base, which includes financial institutions and corporations. Bladex has been listed on the NYSE (NYSE:BLX) since 1992, and its shareholders include central banks and state-owned banks and entities representing 23 Latin American countries; commercial banks and financial institutions; and institutional and retail investors through its public listing.
Safe Harbor Statement
Safe Harbor Statement This press release contains forward-looking statements of expected future developments within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as: "anticipate", "intend", "plan", "goal", "seek", "believe", "project", "estimate", "expect", "strategy", "future", "likely", "may", "should", "will" and similar references to future periods. The forward-looking statements in this press release include the Bank's financial position, asset quality and profitability, among others. These forward-looking statements reflect the expectations of the Bank's management and are based on currently available data; however, actual performance and results are subject to future events and uncertainties, which could materially impact the Bank's expectations. Among the factors that can cause actual performance and results to differ materially are as follows: the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and geopolitical events; the anticipated changes in the Bank's credit portfolio; the continuation of the Bank's preferred creditor status; the impact of increasing/decreasing interest rates and of the macroeconomic environment in the region on the Bank's financial condition; the execution of the Bank's strategies and initiatives, including its revenue diversification strategy; the adequacy of the Bank's allowance for expected credit losses; the need for additional allowance for expected credit losses; the Bank's ability to achieve future growth, reduce its liquidity levels, and increase its leverage; the Bank's ability to maintain its investment-grade credit ratings; the availability and mix of future sources of funding for the Bank's lending operations; potential trading losses; the possibility of fraud; and the adequacy of the Bank's sources of liquidity to replace deposit withdrawals. Factors or events that could cause actual results to differ may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for the Bank to predict all of them. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. The Bank undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required by law.
Contacts
For more information, please access http://www.bladex.com or contact:
Mr. Carlos Daniel Raad
Chief Investor Relations Officer
Tel: +507 366-4925 ext. 7925
E-mail: [email protected] / [email protected]
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