FinanceAsia names Banco de Oro ‘best Asian bank’ for 2013

MANILA, Philippines—Banco de Oro Unibank has been named “best Asian bank” for 2013 by FinanceAsia, a Hong Kong-based magazine that specializes in banking,  finance, economic and business news and analyses.

BDO was chosen from a short list that included  ICBC (China), HDFC (India), Bank Central Asia (Indonesia), Shinhan Financial (Korea), Public Bank (Malaysia), DBS (Singapore), CTBC (Taiwan) and Siam Commercial Bank (Thailand).

FinanceAsia announced in a newsletter on Friday that BDO had broken the winning streak for Malaysia’s Public Bank, which won the award for the last three years.

“It represents the first time FinanceAsia has given this award to a Philippine bank, reflecting the rise in fortunes of the country, notably its improved credit rating,” the newsletter said.

FInanceAsia said the award was determined by ranking the winners of ‘best bank’ in each market on several criteria, with data provided by SNL Financial. The criteria included year-on-year change in profitability, net interest margin, loan-to-asset ratios, return on equity, price-to-book ratios, non-performing loan levels and analyst ratings, as well as credit ratings.

“BDO Unibank performed especially well in profitability and loans to assets,” FinanceAsia said.

BDO posted a record-high first semester net profit of P14.1 billion, more than double the level posted in the same period last year, as unprecedented trading gains complemented growth in interest earnings. With earnings for the period already representing more than two-thirds of its P20.4 billion forecast for 2013, the bank is optimistic of hitting its year-end targets.

Other “best banks” in FinanceAsia’s roster this year include Brac Bank (Bangladesh) and Vietcombank (Vietnam) but the magazine said it lacked sufficient data to make the same type of comparison with those short-listed for the awards. Meanwhile, it said HSBC (best bank in Hong Kong under FinanceAsia’s country awards) was excluded from the competition on the basis of being a global, London-listed institution.

This year’s Country Awards dinner was held by FinanceAsia at Fort Canning Hotel in Singapore on Thursday.

BDO is the largest bank in the Philippines, with assets exceeding P1 trillion. It also has the biggest loan portfolio, deposit base and capital.  It is chaired by Teresita Sy-Coson while the president is Nestor Tan.

FinanceAsia is a leading source of finance, investment banking, economic and capital markets news for those involved in corporate finance, banking, asset management and market regulation.