Nubank, the digital bank that is already worth $43 billion dollars

Nubank, the world’s largest independent digital bank, with 48.1 million customers in Brazil, Mexico and Colombia, has sparked interest among investors and analysts, who are getting ready to begin coverage of Latin America’s most valuable financial company next week.

Founded in 2013 in São Paulo, Brazil, by Colombian entrepreneur, David Velez, Nubank held its first Initial Public Offering (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) less than a month ago, having on its side the team of HSBC, UBS, KeyBanc, Nau Securities and Susquehanna, in addition to attracting the interest of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, which is among its sponsors.

Not surprisingly, the digital bank raised more than $2.5 billion in what was the fifth-largest initial public offering in the United States last year, surpassing the market value of large Brazilian banks such as Itau Unibanco and Banco Bradesco.

Since its debut on the exchange in December, Nubank shares have risen 4.4 percent to $9.40 per paper, giving the company a market capitalization of about $43 billion.

The company, recognized as one of the most influential companies in the world according to TIME magazine’s ranking, is betting on easy-to-use financial products with lower fees and it is expected that in five years, the company could reach between 100 and 150 million customers and be worth up to 300 billion dollars, according to Paulo Passoni, managing director of SoftBank Group’s Latin America Fund, one of the IPO’s pillar investors.

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This is despite the fact that Brazil, where Nubank earns most of its revenue, may fall into recession this year, while the central bank may have to raise rates to control inflation.

To its detractors, despite the numbers it shows, Nubank is an expensive financier compared with other Brazilian banks and non-banks, even when its lower customer acquisition costs, large customer base and growing average revenue per user are taken into account, BTG said.

Earlier this month, Bank of America estimated that each Nubank customer was valued at $900, based on IPO pricing, compared with an average of $300 per customer for other publicly traded Brazilian neobanks, such as Banco Inter and Banco Pan

Mexico refuses to let cruise industry sink

Another blow to the cruise industry that was just getting underway. It turns out that U.S. health officials warned that people should avoid traveling on so-called “floating hotels,” even if passengers are vaccinated. even if passengers are vaccinated, because of the risk of contracting coronavirus.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Thursday raised its alert for cruise ship travel to the highest risk level, saying the virus spreads easily in close quarters among people on board.

The alert caused shares of Carnival, Royal Caribbean Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings to fall, erasing earlier gains.

In Mexico, as is already known, the authorities “sail” on the opposite side, since while in the United States they invite their citizens to avoid these trips, in the country, governed by Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the signal is that all cruise ships will be received, even if they have people infected with Covid.

Supported by the International Health Regulations of the World Health Organization (WHO), Mexico reported that “will receive in its seaports to cruise ships requesting to dock in our country” and, if people traveling on cruise ships have symptoms of Covid-19 or a positive test for SARS-CoV-2 virus, they will be provided with the required medical care.

“Asymptomatic people or those with a mild case will be kept in preventive quarantine, and those with serious symptoms will be treated in hospitals in the cities where they are,” announced last week the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Health.

Apparently in Mexico they don’t want to let that industry sink, which as of September 2021 reported occupancies of 88.5 percent below pre-Covid levels in 2019.