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: China Bank’s 2012 profit flat at P5 B

y2cary3n6mng-qwfl07-net-profit-formula (Photo credit: NVarchitect)

The Sy family-led China Banking Corp. chalked up a consolidated net profit of P5 billion last year, flat compared to the previous year as its thrift bank subsidiary gnawed at overall profitability.

But China Bank sustained a return on equity of 12.39 percent and return on assets of 1.72 percent for the year.

Last year’s earnings were fueled by a 29 percent increase in loans to P198 billion, which grew 50 percent faster than the industry. Lending grew across all market segments—up 36 percent in commercial, 28 percent in consumer and 27 percent in corporate loans—cushioning the impact of lower yields and thinning margins.

Profits were also boosted by hefty trading and securities gains, expanding by 98.6 percent to P2.92 billion.

http://business.inquirer.net/111057/china-banks-2012-profit-flat-at-p5-b

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Stock News 2012: BPI profit up 13.4% to P12.8B

BPI Building in Makati City, at the corner of Ayala Avenue and Paseo de Roxas. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Ayala-owned Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) said its an unaudited net income reached P12.8 billion last year, up 13.4 percent from P11.3 billion in 2010.

BPI president and chief executive officer Aurelio Luis R. Montinola III said in turn, they are targeting a 13-to 15-percent expansion in its lending this year as they anticipate another double-digit growth in earnings.

“We look forward to 2012 as a better year for the country and for BPI, as we intend to continue our loan growth path and differentiate ourselves through superior relationship managers and further use online banking,” the bank official added.

“We exceeded our five million customer base goal, improved our ROA (return on assets) to 1.6 percent, and maintained ROE (return on equity) above 15 percent during our 160th anniversary.”

Total revenues grew seven percent on the back of a 10-percent expansion in net interest income. That, in turn, was fueled by the growth in average asset base to P48 billion.

“Net interest margin was not only preserved but ended higher by 13 basis points,” Montinola said.

Non-interest income was likewise three percent higher due to an increase in service charges, trust fees, income from the insurance companies and credit card income.

Operating expenses, however, increased 12 percent with almost half generated by salary-related costs. Manpower cost though remained at 48 percent of total expenses. Also adding to the operating expenses were premises costs, regulatory costs, and other variable costs.

Impairment losses were lower at P2.15 billion in view of the continuous decline in non-performing assets.

Total resources of P843 billion were slightly lower by almost four percent than the previous year’s figure of P877 billion.

Total deposits contracted by about five percent to P681 billion, while total intermediated funds reached P1.35 trillion, or a 12-percent increase, as assets under management went up 38 percent.

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=772820&publicationSubCategoryId=66

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Stock News 2011: Chinabank profit rises 22% to P5 billion

Image via Wikipedia
China Banking Corporation reported robust gains in 2010 with its audited net income improving by 22 percent to P5 billion on the back of continued loans growth and improved trading gains.

The bank said its fee-based businesses such as bancassurance, private banking, cash management and remittances also contributed to the earnings growth.

China Bank’s 2010 financial ratios underscore its sustained profitability in 2010: return on equity of 16.69 percent from 15.36 percent, return on assets of 2.15 percent from 1.90 percent.

“2010 was a year of dynamic growth for China Bank. We continued to pursue our aggressive expansion program ‘ branch openings, ATMs and even exceeded our income target of P4.4 billion,” said China Bank president Peter S. Dee.

http://www.mb.com.ph/node/306355/chinabank-profit-ri