Asia United Bank Corp. (AUB) said it sustained its strong earnings in the first quarter of 2025, posting a 34-percent increase in consolidated net income to P3.1 billion from P2.3 billion in the same period last year.
The bank remains cautiously optimistic over the near term given the concerns about the growth of the global economy amid the threat of trade war.
“We have managed to sustain the growth in our profitability since the pandemic, thanks to our robust core business and digital partnerships,” said AUB president Manuel Gomez.
“While we are confident of our performance, we remain cautiously optimistic about the near-term outlook for the global economy due to the ongoing trade wars, the potential disruption in global supply chains, the projected slowdown in many major economies, and the growing geopolitical tension in some parts of the world. We will continue to adjust our sails to navigate this global turmoil and remain agile,” said Gomez.
The group’s first-quarter results marked the 17th consecutive quarter of double-digit profit growth for the bank since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
The bank’s strong first-quarter performance was on the back of a 34-percent expansion in its loan portfolio, which reached P252.6 billion. This was supported by enhanced asset quality, with the nonperforming loan (NPL) ratio improving to 0.35 percent from 0.47 percent a year ago.
Loan loss provisions fell 15 percent to P66.0 million, and the NPL coverage ratio improved to 119.8 percent.
AUB also reported solid core banking metrics, with return on equity (ROE) rising to 22.3 percent and return on assets (ROA) improving to 3.4 percent, both higher than the previous year’s level.
Interest income grew 9 percent year-on-year to P5.6 billion, offsetting an 11-percent rise in interest expense on deposits. Total deposits increased 9 percent to P308.1 billion.
Net interest income reached P4.3 billion, up 8 percent year-on-year, while the bank maintained a healthy net interest margin of 5.1 percent.
Non-interest income rose 81 percent to P1.3 billion, driven by gains from trading, foreign exchange and strong performance in fee-based businesses such as AUB PayMate, HelloMoney, credit cards, remittances, trust operations and branch transactions.
