PHOTO courtesy of BPI
AYALA-led Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) grew its fourth quarter 2014 net profit by 72-percent to P5.2 billion as improved treasury earnings complemented core business expansion.
This brought the bank’s full-year net profit to P18 billion, 4 percent lower than the level in 2013 and below the P20.21-billion profit guidance set at the beginning of the year. The comparative 2013 level, however, was buoyed by extraordinary gains from securities trading, which were sluggish in the first semester of 2014.
The fourth quarter earnings marked the fourth straight consecutive increase in quarterly net income for the bank, BPI disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Friday.
“BPI enters 2015 with good momentum,” BPI president Cezar Consing said in a press statement.
“In 2014, we used the capital that we raised to invest for the future and meet robust loan demand.”
Core lending to corporate and retail clients continued to drive growth, the bank said. Net loans reached P800 billion, an increase of 26 percent over yearend 2013.
On the funding side, deposits ended at P1.176 trillion, an increase of 19 percent from the previous year. Of these deposits, low-cost current account/savings account (CASA) deposits accounted for 69 percent.
For the whole of 2014, net interest income grew by 15 percent to P34.8 billion.
Non-interest income amounted to P21 billion for the full year, representing a 5 percent decline from the previous year, as income from securities and foreign exchange trading eased to P3.1 billion compared to P6.3 billion one year ago. Excluding securities and foreign exchange trading, non-interest income was P17.8 billion,13 percent higher than the previous year.
On asset quality, gross 90-day non-performing loans fell to 1.51 percent compared to 1.74 percent in the previous year.