March 5 (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 dipped 13.3% to 7.42 trillion pesos.

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.

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.

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)