(Reuters) - Colombian financial conglomerate Grupo Aval posted a year-over-year rise in net profit in the fourth quarter, a securities filing showed on Tuesday, as their investment portfolio experienced positive returns in line with positive financial markets performance.

Net profit came in at 82.9 billion Colombian pesos ($21.03 million), in the October through December period.

Meanwhile, the conglomerate reported interest income in the period up to 20.8% 7.42 trillion pesos.

However, net interest income came in at 1.53 trillion, down 13.3% from a year earlier.

The company said the Colombian peso appreciated 20.5% relative to the US dollar over the year.

"This context reflected an under-par year for our business" it said in a statement.

Colombia's central bank began a monetary easing cycle late last year and cut its benchmark interest rate to 12.75% at the end of January after what Grupo Aval called a "significant slowdown" in the economy in 2023.

The Colombian economy expanded 0.6% last year, compared to growth of 7.3% in 2022. The government expects growth of 1.5% this year while the International Monetary Fund sees expansion of 1.3% in Latin America's fourth-largest economy.

Although Grupo Aval's non-financial sector business was a strong contributor to the positive results, it fell in 2023 by 29.2% when compared with 2022 to 797.3 billion pesos.

The financial portfolio of Grupo Aval includes Colombian banks Banco de Bogota, Banco Popular, Banco AV Villas and Banco de Occidente.

($1 = 3,942.2100 Colombian pesos)