Business Bank reports 1st Q profit of P593 M

MANILA, Philippines—The newly listed Philippine Business Bank grew its first quarter net profit by 34.1 percent year-on-year to P593 million on strong contribution from its treasury business.

The thrift banking arm of businessman Alfredo Yao’s Zest-O group, which targets mostly small and medium enterprises, also expanded its loan book during the quarter by 42.93 percent year-on-year to P22.09 billion.

PBB’s total resources stood at P36.2 billion at end-March, up from P27.9 billion in the previous year, the bank disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange.

Liquid assets also rose to P11.1 billion from the previous year’s P9.68 billion.  Overall earning assets expanded by 32 percent to P33.2 billion.

The bank also grew its deposit base by 19.4 percent to P26.32 billion year-on-year.

In terms of asset quality, the ratio of non-performing loans to total loans improved to 2.51 percent at end-March from 3.09 percent in the same period last year.  Every peso of soured loan is aptly covered.

Capital adequacy ratio to risk assets remained high at 31.5 percent during the period.

PBB said it has continued to expand and service its niche SME market.  Its bank branches are situated near the SME-rich areas of CAMANAVA (Caloocan-Malabon-Navotas) and the key cities of Visayas and Mindanao.  The bank now has 79 branches, which will will grow to 100 within this year as funded by its initial public offering proceeds.