MANILA, Philippines – Security Bank Corp. posted P5 billion in net profit last year, about a third lower than its record earnings in 2012 when it booked extraordinary trading gains.

“Our core business remains strong and continues to grow alongside the buoyant Philippine economy. We have made substantial investments in developing our retail bank and asset management business. Our intent is to develop our retail business to become a meaningful pillar to complement our financial markets and wholesale businesses, as well as improve our ability to provide products and services that respond to our clients’ needs,” Security Bank president Alberto Villarosa said in a press statement on Tuesday.

In 2012, the bank’s net profit hit a record-high P7.5 billion, buoyed by non-interest income, which increased by 44 percent mainly due to higher trading gains on securities.

The P5-billion bottomline in 2013 translated to a return on shareholders’ equity of 13 percent but the sources of earnings were not broken down.

Security Bank expanded its balance sheet, posting a 34 percent growth in total resources to P348 billion at the end of 2013.

The bank grew its loan portfolio by 38 percent to end 2013 at P165 billion while investment securities expanded by 30 percent to P83 billion.

Asset quality remained healthy with non-performing loans accounting for a marginal 0.08 percent of total portfolio. For every P1 of bad loans, the bank provided a cover of about P1.95.

On the funding side, total deposits increased by 45 percent year-on-year to P206 billion, supported by the opening of 36 new branches last year, 34 of which were Security Bank branches and two were those of thrift bank subsidiary Security Bank Savings.

The banking group had a total of 244 branches by year-end 2013, of which 204 were branches of the main bank. Over the past five years, the number of branches had more than doubled.

Meanwhile, capital attributable to equity holders rose by 11 percent to P40.8 billion last year. “Our capital adequacy ratio (CAR) is at 15.5 percent after redeeming our tier 2 Notes in December 2013 while tier 1 CAR is at 15.1 percent, both above the BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas)’s minimum requirements. We continue to maintain strong capital ratios and a solid balance sheet,” said Security Bank chief financial officer Joselito Mape.

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