Filinvest income slid 9%

Gotianun-led conglomerate Filinvest Development Corp. posted a 9-percent year-on-year drop in its first semester net profit to P2.9 billion due to lower earnings by its bank subsidiary.

East West Bank reported an 18-percent year-on-year decline in six-month net profit to P1 billion, tracking the industry-wide slowdown in trading gains as local interest rates started bottoming out.

Group-wide revenues hit P19 billion in the first semester, about 4 percent higher than the level in the previous years. The bulk of its revenues continued to come from the real estate and banking businesses, representing 45 percent and 41 percent, respectively. Sugar accounted for 11 percent while hotels contributed 3 percent of revenues.

It was earlier reported that net income at property unit Filinvest Land Inc. had grown by 15 percent year-on-year to P2 billion in the first half as core businesses expanded.

Despite the widely expected downturn in treasury earnings, FDC reported that East West Bank continued to enjoy strong growth in core banking revenues, with six-month net interest income and service fees posting year-on-year growth of 23 percent and 26 percent, respectively. This was attributed to growth in higher-yielding consumer loans coupled with lower funding cost with the expansion of low-cost deposits.

It was noted, however, that EastWest had maintained its industry-leading net interest margin at 8.1 percent for the first six months of the year, driven by sustained growth in high-yield consumer loans and improvement in funding costs. Doris C. Dumlao