BDO sees 2014 profit of P22.8B

Banco de Oro Unibank sees net profit this year reaching a record-high P22.8 billion, about 24 percent of which had been achieved in the first quarter.

BDO’s net profit in the first three months amounted to P5.5 billion, down 46 percent year-on-year in the absence of hefty trading gains that bloated the comparative level of P10 billion last year. Excluding the one-off gains booked in the first quarter of 2013, BDO’s first-quarter income reflected a 31-percent growth.

“Trading gains last year are one-off items. These are things that you don’t expect to recur,” BDO president Nestor Tan said in a briefing ahead of the bank’s annual stockholders’ meeting yesterday. “The good news is we’re replacing extraordinary items with sustainable strong recurring income.”

Tan said the bank was at the same time posting further improvements in asset quality. “We have a solid balance sheet and good franchise that will support growth in the years ahead,” he said.

For the first quarter, BDO’s net interest income grew by 27 percent to P12.2 billion from the previous year’s level. However, non-interest income declined 47 percent to P7 billion as trading gains were much lower compared to last year due to easier monetary policy then.