Stock News 2012: UCPB posts 34% profit growth in Q1

The new logo of United Coconut Planters Bank (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB) has reported a 34-percent increase in net income to P883.7 million for the first quarter of 2012.

UCPB president and chief executive officer Jeronimo Kilayko attributed the increase to the bank’s ability to take advantage of the volatile fixed income market.

“The bank took advantage of the volatile fixed income market thus expanding its trading gains by more than three hundred folds during the first three months of the year to P486.9 million from P111.2 million in the same period last year,” Kilayko said.

He further explained that despite the normally weak banking activities in the first three months of a given year, UCPB surmounted this by taking advantage of all opportunities.

“Businesses normally slows down during this period but we still managed to sustain our growth in 2012. Our strong first quarter performance bodes well for the future of the bank,” he said, refusing to make a new forecast regarding the bank’s income prospects.

Kilayko said that UCPB would remain focused on its original full year 2012 target of P3.5 to P4 billion in net income.

Net income in 2011 amounted to P3.05 billion and P2.45 billion in 2010.

Meanwhile, interest income from loans rose 15 percent as the bank expanded its loan portfolio to P73.6 million by end of March 2012 from P62.1 as of March 2011.

Consumer loans, mainly the mortgage loans, rose at a faster rate primarily due to the bank’s tie-ups with major real estate developers. This provided bank access to more clients who would like to borrow to build their dream house.

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?publicationSubCategoryId=66&articleId=801988

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Stock News 2000: Uniwide To Dispose Of Properties

The new logo of United Coconut Planters Bank (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The debt-saddled Uniwide Group will dispose of over 13 hectares in land and building properties, including part of the ambitious Dreamworld project in Naic, Cavite, as part of its repayment scheme to bank creditors.

Among the real estate properties that will be turned over to United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB) in the dacion en pago arrangement include a 3,111-square meter land with building structures in Tambo, Baclaran; a 14,529-sqm. land area in Calaanan, Caloocan City; and a 112,865-sqm. lot that would have formed the first phase of the development of Dreamworld, a theme park with commercial and amusement centers.

Uniwide, through its 98-percent subsidiary Uniwide Sales Realty and Resources Corp., has forged an agreement with UCPB, a major creditor in its more than P11 billion debt load, to settle P1.044 billion in loan through a dacion de pago involving these properties.

The agreement followed the sale of its convenience store chain, the Uniwide Family Stores, operated by its subsidiary First Paragon Corp. to I-Mart International Corp. for P145 million. This was the first action taken by Uniwide in line with its rehabilitation program overseen by a three-man receivership committee selected by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The SEC has given the go-signal for the sale of one of Uniwide's prime assets, which was likewise approved by other major creditors Equitable-PCI Bank and Philippine Bank of Communications.

"The interest of FPC's creditors is best served with the proposed conversion of deteriorating assets into cash," the SEC said in its order.

Uniwide investor relations manager Susan Ligerade said while the sale of the store franchise effectively reduces the franchise revenues of the company, "there still remains four Uniwide family store franchises of Uniwide Holdings Inc., which are owned and operated by third party franchisees and from which UHI collects franchise fees."

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=101231&publicationSubCategoryId=66