BPI nets P12.7B
AYALA-LED Bank of the Philippine Islands grew its first semester net profit by 35.6 percent year-on-year to P12.7 billion, driven by higher interest earnings and securities trading gains.
Total revenue rose by 20.9 percent to P35.2 billion, driven by a 9.6-percent growth in net interest income to P20.7 billion and a 41.7-percent jump in non-interest income to P14.5 billion.
Against a backdrop of choppy markets and the elections, business with top corporate clients grew by 25.5 percent, driving growth in overall corporate business to 20.4 percent. This allowed the bank to expand its loan book by 18.6 percent to P904.4 billion.
“Unusually strong market results complemented steady growth in client revenue. The quality of our client business is high and we are scaling up to do more,” BPI president and CEO Cezar Consing said.
In terms of asset quality, gross 90-day nonperforming loans fell to 1.6 percent as a ratio of total loans from 1.8 percent a year ago.
In June, BPI sold a portion of securities originally intended to be held-to-maturity (HTM) to fund loan growth, cut relatively expensive deposits and enhance capital. The remaining HTM securities stood at P216.66 billion, down 8.17 percent from year ago. Overall investment securities ended 2.13-percent lower year-on-year at P269.33 billion.
BPI’s landmark deals for the period included the P12.5-billion debt financing for AP Renewables’ TiwiMakban geothermal plant.
BPI Capital is the domestic lead underwriter for the initial public offering of Pilipinas Shell.
Operating expenses ended at P17.31 billion, up 14.4 percent year-on-year. The bank also raised loan-loss provisions by 47.5 percent to P3.1 billion.
For every peso earned in the first semester, BPI spent P0.49 compared to P0.52 last year. Return on assets and on equity stood at 1.6 percent and 16.4 percent.
Total deposits rose by 10.8 percent year-on-year to P1.33 trillion.
Total assets as of end-June stood at P1.58 trillion, up 11.2 percent, while total capital rose 7.4 percent to P160.79 billion. Doris Dumlao-Abadilla
