MANILA, Philippines — The Metrobank group’s thrift bank arm Philippine Savings Bank grew its first semester net profit by 13 percent to P916 million from a year ago as higher earnings from core lending activities made up for the slack in trading gains.
For the second quarter alone, PSBank boosted its net profit by 91 percent to P332 million compared to the level in 2010.
In a report on Tuesday, PSBank reported that trading gains went down by P491 million due to prevailing high interest rate environment but this was offset by the rise in its core net interest income amounting to P407 million.
Total net interest income reached P2.8 billion, up by 17 percent from a year ago, with interest income from loans growing by 12 percent to PhP3.2 billion and interest income from investments increasing by 59 percent to P1 billion.
The rise in core income was attributed to the bank’s continuing expansion in its loan and investment portfolio. Gross loans posted a steady double digit increase of 12 percent year-on-year to P58.7 billion with auto loans rising by 22 percent, mortgage loans by 8 percent and personal loans also by 8 percent.
“PSBank’s double-digit loan growth is in spite of the challenges on the supply side of certain Japanese automobile brands and the interest rate competition on mortgage loans. We anticipate further buoyancy in consumer loan demand in the second half of the year,” PSBank president Pascual M. Garcia III said in a press statement.
The bank’s investment portfolio, on the other hand, likewise rose by 26 percent to P27.7 billion.
Total assets climbed by 13 percent to P101.6 billion, as of June 30, from a year ago. Deposit growth has likewise been favorable at 15 percent year-on-year to P86.1 billion.
On the expenditure side, operating expenses went up by 6 percent as the bank added a total of seven new branches and 29 new offsite automated teller machines (ATMs) as of the first half of the year. Total network now stood at 187 branches and 417 ATMs nationwide, as of the end of June.
“Aside from branches and ATMs, we want PSBank’s products to be available in other channels with the aim of providing our customers broader choices and greater convenience,” Garcia added.
The bank recently launched its new product, the PSBank Debit MasterCard, an ATM card that could be used both for cashless purchases and regular ATM transactions. This followed the launch of the PSBank Prepaid MasterCard last year, a re-loadable ATM card, debit card, remittance card, and Internet cash card all rolled into one.