Analyst Note
| Michael Miller |Narrow-moat rated Banco Santander Chile reported solid first-quarter earnings, comfortably beating the FactSet consensus estimate of CLP 0.76 per share with reported adjusted EPS of CLP 0.96. Coronavirus cases in Chile began to rise after February and some lockdown restrictions were put in place in March and April. However, with around 40% of the Chilean population fully vaccinated, we are increasingly seeing evidence of a broad-based economic recovery as the end of the pandemic appears to be in sight. The first-quarter results were driven by recovering fee income, relatively stable credit costs, and controlled expenses. We don't expect to change our fair value estimate of $24.00 per ADR share.