Nubank turns $141m profit in Q1 as Brazilian market share nears 50%

Nearly half the adult population of Brazil have an account with Nubank.

Latin American challenger Nubank last night posted another quarter of profit after its customer base jumped by another 4.5m to reach 79.1m globally.

That growth was combined with an increase in monthly average revenue per active customer to $8.6 and a cost of serving those active customers of $0.8, helping Nubank to generate Q1 revenues of $1.6bn and a profit of $141.8m.

“In Brazil, 46 per cent of the adult population is a Nubank customer, a figure that has doubled in only two years,” said Nubank’s CEO and founder David Vélez.

“With an efficiency ratio of 39 per cent, we are one of the most efficient players in Latin America. We have an exceptional capital position and excess liquidity, operate a low-cost platform, and continue to increase our product portfolio and customer engagement.”

Outside of Brazil, the company has reached 3.2m customers in Mexico, up 52 per cent year-on-year, and 635,000 customers in Colombia, up 200 per cent YoY.

Of its product suite, Nubank has 35m active credit cards, 56m active payment accounts (NuAccounts) 6m active personal loans, 1m active insurance policies and over 9m active NuInvest trading customers.

Despite all its growth and international expansion, Nubank’s holding company still has $2.4bn in excess cash and in Brazil Nubank is highly capitalised with a Basel Index of 18.7 per cent, well above the minimum requirement of 10.5 per cent.

In a statement, Nubank said this large runway would help it continue to grow market share in different verticals, including its recently-launched secured credit products, while continuing to set profitability records.