Stock News 2013: Union Bank profit jumps by 41%

English: A logo for the Union Bank of the Philippines (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Aboitiz-led Union Bank of the Philippines grew its first-quarter net profit by 40.8 percent year on year to P4 billion, the best quarterly bottom line in its history, mainly due to the double-digit expansion in trading gains and interest earnings.

The first-quarter performance translated to a return on equity of 29 percent. The bank also managed to hit early in the year nearly half of its P8.5-billion net profit goal for the full year, which means the bank would have to readjust targets, Union Bank president Victor Valdepeñas said in an interview.

“We thought we’ll grow by 15 percent this year but it now seems to be a conservative target given our first-quarter performance. As the market continues to be quite positive in terms of flow of funds, I will not be surprised if we’ll see our income growing by 20 percent,” he said. However, the bank would have to wait for the second -quarter results before overhauling its targets for 2013, he added.

Valdepeñas said the bank’s three-month results, which topped what was already a strong performance in the same period last year, could be attributed to stable margins, lower cost of funds, improved productivity and strong contribution from subsidiaries. The first-quarter results already included the contribution of newly acquired thrift bank City Savings.

Based on the bank’s regulatory filing, net interest income went up by 15.8 percent to P2.05 billion from year-ago level.

Valdepeñas estimated that margins had stabilized at more than 3.4 percent.

“While the yields have been under pressure, our cost of funding has gone down much slower,” Valdepeñas said.

The bank’s loan book declined to P98.13 billion from P115.17 billion a year ago. He said this was because certain loan accounts, particularly auto loans, had matured faster than the bank’s new bookings of this type of loans. He said the bank was rationalizing its auto lending business while the credit card segment remained flat as Union Bank had become very “selective.”

“When demand from household continues to increase, we have to be wary,” he said. “Nonetheless, we’re still pushing that because I think consumer financing will grow faster than corporate loans. Corporations can now go directly to the public and raise equity given very good prices and the very good environment.”

For the full year, Union Bank aims to grow its loan book by 15 to 20 percent, Valdepeñas said.

http://business.inquirer.net/119189/union-bank-profit-jumps-by-41

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Stock News 2013: UCPB ’12 profit up by 22%

English: The new logo of United Coconut Planters Bank (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

United Coconut Planters Bank posted a net profit of P3.73 billion last year, 22 percent higher than the previous year, on higher interest earnings and extraordinary treasury gains.

“In spite of 2012 being a demanding year both strategically and financially, we at UCPB are satisfied to have achieved these results. We are definitely looking forward to this year, being our 50th anniversary, and revisiting the basic fundamentals that have made us a reliable banking partner for our target market,” UCPB president and chief executive officer Jeronimo Kilayko said in a statement.

The bank grew its loan book by 24 percent to P87.72 billion last year, with the consumer portfolio rising by 33 percent. Corporate accounts made up 45 percent of the loan portfolio.

Net interest income rose about 4 percent to P3.56 billion year on year.

Like most of its peers, the decline in interest rates to record-low levels last year favored the treasury business. Securities trading gains jacked up UCPB’s non-interest income by 47 percent to about P5.2 billion last year.

On fee-based business, ATM transactions grew by 20 percent from the previous year. “The growth in fees will continue to be robust because of the introduction of products such as UCPB Connect, an online facility meant to provide banking flexibility and convenience to clients. This fairly advanced banking system includes a mobile banking component which allows users to access their bank statement and pay bills through mobile devices,” the bank said.

UCPB ended 2012 with total assets hitting P218.72 billion, up by 9 percent from a year before. This was attributed to “sound financial fundamentals and knowledge of the current market conditions.”

http://business.inquirer.net/109307/ucpb-12-profit-up-by-22

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Stock News 2012: BPI profit rises 37% to P13.2B

Philippine 100 peso bill (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Higher interest income drove Bank of the Philippine Islands’ net income 37 percent higher to P13.2 billion in the first nine months of the year, the bank said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange.

BPI attributed the solid performance to strong revenues, which were up 17.6 percent, coming from both net interest income and non-interest income.

Despite the prevailing low interest rate environment, net interest income was higher by 7.8 percent as the average asset base expanded by almost P50 billion or 6.4 percent.

Net interest spread was relatively flattish notwithstanding the full recognition of the non-remuneration on statutory and liquidity reserves maintained as deposits with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

BPI also continued to fund its lending growth with low cost funds.

Non-interest income was 34 percent higher, mainly driven by higher securities trading gain.

Other income and fees and commissions also posted increases.

Operating expense went up a manageable 4.8 percent, with increments mainly on premises and technology related costs as well as other operating expenses.

Impairment losses were up 54 percent as provisions were set up for the strengthening of the actuarial reserves for the pre-need subsidiary.

For the third quarter, impairment losses were 1.2 times the previous year. Revenues were, however, up five percent, thereby resulting in a nine percent improvement in net income to P3.8 billion.

Loans reached P475 billion as the growth rate of 18 percent was sustained through the third quarter. Corporate and consumer loans continued with their double-digit momentum with 18 percent and 16 percent, respectively, on a year on year basis.

Asset quality as reflected in the net 30-day NPL ratio improved to 1.7 percent from last year’s 2.3 percent, with reserve coverage at 137.9 percent.

Deposits reached P697 billion or a 12 percent increase from last year. In addition, assets under management increased 15 percent to P760 billion.

At end-September, BPI’s market capitalization stood at P284 billion, the highest among domestic banks.

 “Normalizing the impact of the opportunistic recognition of securities trading gains, BPI’s adjusted return on equity and return on assets as of September 2012 would be 16.9 percent and 1.9 percent, respectively,” BPI president and CEO Aurelio R. Montinola III said.

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?publicationSubCategoryId=66&articleId=865169

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Stock News 2012: Metrobank earnings rise 32% to P11 B

One of the country’s top lenders Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. (Metrobank) registered its fourth straight year of strong income growth as it reported a 32 percent increase in net earnings in 2011 to P11 billion.

In a statement, Metrobank said total deposits grew 4.6 percent year-on-year to P681 billion while net loans and receivables rose 16.5 percent to P457.4 billion, with strong growth coming from both the consumer and commercial segments.

Thus, operating income growth was supported by the 11.4-percent increase in net interest income to P29.4 billion which, in turn, was driven by the 7.3-percent growth in low cost deposits and the 16.5 percent hike in net loans and receivables.

Metrobank likewise recorded a return on average equity of 11.2 percent in 2011, from 10.3 percent the previous year.

Meanwhile, its healthy growth in assets and improved deposit mix pushed net interest margin 11 basis points higher to 3.5 percent.

In addition, service charges, fees and commissions registered a healthy 12.5 percent increase to P7.7 billion, while income from trading and foreign exchange grew to P7.7 billion.

Operating expenses grew 10.3 percent year-on-year to P30.7 billion, driven by higher manpower and occupancy-related costs.

Provisions for credit and impairment losses declined 47.5 percent to P3.8 billion, as gross non-performing loans (NPLs) were reduced by 8.3 percent, settling at P10.1 billion by the end of 2011.

Thus, the NPL ratio further declined to 2.2 percent at yearend, from 2.9 percent in 2010, while the NPL coverage was comfortably higher at 99.5 percent, from 92.3 percent in 2010.

Consolidated assets ballooned further to P958.4 billion, or eight percent more than the P887.3 billion in 2010.

Total equity reached P109.8 billion, up 25.3 percent from the previous year’s P87.6 billion.

At the end of 2011, Metrobank’s capital adequacy ratio (CAR) further improved to 17.4 percent from 16.4 percent in 2010, well above the 10 percent regulatory minimum. Tier 1 capital ratio likewise rose to 13.7 percent, from 12 percent in the previous year.

http://www.philstar.com/ArticleListBySubCategory.aspx?publicationSubCategoryId=66

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Stock News 2012: Filinvest Dev't subscribes to P3-B East West Bank shares

Portage Ave EastWest 06-10-07 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Gotianun-led Filinvest Development Corp. (FDC) has subscribed to P3 billion or a fourth of the increase in capitalization of its banking arm EastWest Bank Corp.

EastWest Bank raised its capitalization from P8 billion to P20 billion.

In a disclosure to the stock exchange, FDC said it subscribed to 300 million common shares of EastWest Bank with a par value of P10.

The Filinvest Group is one of the country’s leading conglomerates, with interests in real estate through Filinvest Land, financial and banking services, and sugar manufacturing through Pacific Sugar Holdings.

EastWest Bank posted a net income of P1.5 billion as of October last year, down 6.1 percent from the previous level, due to lower trading gains. Net revenues also fell 5.1 percent to P5.9 billion as a result of lower trading income.

Net interest income, however rose 11.4 percent to P3.9 billion as the bank improved its lending businesses and management of its cost of funds.

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=769320&publicationSubCategoryId=

Stock News 2011: BPI earns P9.6 billion

Image via Wikipedia
The Bank of the Philippine Islands reported that its net income grew by 6 percent to P9.6 billion as it opted to expand its loan to deposit ratio to maintain its net interest margin amid market volatility.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, BPI said total revenues were up by 7 percent as net interest income improved by 9 percent fuelled by a P67 billion growth in average asset base.

Non-interest income was just slightly ahead of the previous year as securities trading gain fell short by P809 million from last year as expected.

This was however more than compensated for by higher fees and commissions, income from insurance operations, and other operating income.

Operating costs were however higher by 13 percent with half of the increase arising from salary adjustments and CBA related expenses. Increases were also seen in premises cost, regulatory costs, and other variable expenses.

http://mb.com.ph/articles/339379/bpi-earns-p96-billion-6-first-nine-months