BDO OK’s dividends to preferred share holders

BDO Unibank Inc. is issuing cash dividends to holders of preferred shares, as it expects 2012 profit to hit record high.

In a disclosure, BDO said its board had approved the declaration of P340.33 million in cash dividends to holders of Series A preferred shares.

The amount represents an annual yield of 6.5 percent for shareholders. The dividend declaration, approved in a meeting last Saturday, is still subject to the approval of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

Earlier, BDO reported a net income of P10.5 billion for the first nine months of the year.

This was achieved on the back of robust treasury gains and fee-based earnings complemented by its lending business, allowing the bank to attain 84 percent of its full-year income target at the end of the nine-month period.

BDO is aiming for a 19-percent growth in 2012 net profit to P12.5 billion, an all-time high for the bank.

The bank expanded its gross loan book by 17 percent to P724 billion, while deposits grew by 4.8 percent to P860 billion year on year.

Nine-month net interest income hit P26.8 billion, up by 4.45 percent from P25.66 billion a year ago.

Total non-interest income also went up by 23 percent year on year to P18.9 billion. This was driven by a 32.6-percent gain in fee-based income to P10 billion and a 50-percent surge in trading and foreign exchange gains to P7 billion.

On the expenditure side, operating expenses inched up to P29.7 billion from P26.96 billion in the same period last year.—Paolo G. Montecillo