China Banking Corp. said Thursday its net income grew 13 percent year-on-year to a record P24.8 billion, led by the sustained growth of its core businesses.
This translated into a return on equity of 15.6 percent and return on assets of 1.6 percent.
“We continue to remain focused on executing our strategies to deliver quality service to our customers and stellar financial results to all our stakeholders,” said Chinabank president and chief executive Romeo Uyan Jr.
“Our ongoing business transformation as well as solid fundamentals will allow us to sustain our growth in the coming years,” he said.
The bank’s revenues grew by 21 percent to P65.5 billion, driven by net interest income, which rose 19 percent to P63.5 billion.
The growth was supported by an expanded asset base and an improvement in net interest margin to 4.5 percent.
Operating expenses increased 14 percent to P30.7 billion, due to investments in manpower, technology and volume-related taxes.
Despite the easing of its non-performing loans (NPL) ratio to 1.6 percent, the bank increased its credit provisions to P3.3 billion. As a result, NPL coverage was higher at 139 percent.
Total assets rose 11 percent to P1.6 trillion, strengthening the bank’s position as the fourth-largest private universal bank in the Philippines.
“With ample liquidity and a solid capital structure, we can confidently support our institutional and retail customers and advance our growth strategies while ensuring financial stability through market volatilities and economic challenges.” Chinabank chief finance officer Patrick Cheng said.
Gross loans rose 18 percent to P933 billion, on the back of higher loan demand from all customer segments.
Total deposits increased by 12 percent to P1.3 trillion.
Its total capital rose by 12 percent to P169 billion, with capital ratios well above regulatory requirements
The bank returned to the Philippine Stock Exchange Index, a benchmark of the 30 largest companies in the country early this month.
Chinabank has 650 branches and 1,081 ATMs, including the 170 branches and 221 ATMs of its savings bank arm CBS.
