Union Bank posts lower profit

ABOITIZ-led Union Bank of the Philippines posted a 38.7 percent year-on-year drop in net profit in the first nine months to P3.67 billion in the absence of extraordinary trading gains seen in the previous year.

In the third quarter alone, net profit fell by 56.7 percent to P663 million from the same period last year, based on a regulatory filing on Monday.

The bank grew its core businesses but compared to the previous year, earnings declined as treasury earnings thinned out.

Nine-month net interest income after impairment losses rose by 7 percent year-on-year to P8.23 billion. However, non-interest earnings declined to P5.16 billion from P6.77 billion in the previous year, as trading gains slid to P236 million from P2.36 billion in the nine-month period last year.

Union Bank’s loan book stood at P164.22 billion or about 56 percent of the bank’s total deposit base of P291 billion.

The bank ended September with total resources amounting to P393.79 billion.