Brazil's Bradesco expects 'reasonable' deal with Americanas by June

Recasts throughout to add expectations for Americanas deal

SAO PAULO, May 5 (Reuters) - Brazilian lender Banco Bradesco SA BBDC4.SA expects bankrupt retailer Americanas SA AMER3.SA and its lenders to reach a "reasonable" deal on debts by June, Chief Executive Octavio de Lazari Junior said on Friday.

Americanas, which has the billionaire trio that founded 3G Capital as reference shareholders, entered bankruptcy protection earlier this year after uncovering roughly $4 billion in "accounting inconsistencies".

Bradesco was listed among the most exposed to Americanas' debt and in the first quarter set aside 4.9 billion reais ($981.37 million) in provisions to cover the loans, having previously dubbed the accounting issues as a "fraud".

Lazari said in a call with analysts that loan-loss provisions were still seen pressuring Bradesco's results in the second quarter but an improvement is expected in the second half of 2023, which would allow it to meet its year-end forecasts.

Bradesco on Thursday reported a 37.3% dive in its first-quarter net income compared to a year earlier, but landed above analysts' expectations. Provisions for bad loans nearly doubled to 9.517 billion reais.

($1 = 4.9930 reais)

(Reporting by Alberto Alerigi Jr.; Editing by Steven Grattan)

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