Metrobank loan portfolio seen expanding by 20% in ’15

Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co., the nation’s second-largest bank, plans to grow its loan portfolio by up to 20 percent in 2015.

The expansion is expected across the board, with both businesses and households borrowing more this year.

This follows Metrobank’s recent record stock rights offering that raised P32 billion in fresh capital for the company, which will support its expansion in the next three years.

“Increasing purchasing power impacts on a lot of industries,” said Mary Mylene Caparas, head of Metrobank’s institutional banking group. “Growth is consistent across all the regions,” she said.

In 2015, the bank expects to grow its total loan portfolio by 18 to 20 percent. Last year, the portfolio expanded by 24 percent, faster than the targeted “mid-teens” rate.

To achieve this, the company said it would open 30 new branches this year, lower than the 43 branches opened in 2014. The bank said it would also hire more “customer-facing” personnel to strengthen its consumer banking business.

Metrobank said it was confident the growing economy would help drive the banking sector’s expansion. It expects gross domestic product to grow by over 6 percent in 2015 and 2016.

Last year, Metrobank posted a net profit of P20.1 billion last year, about 11 percent lower year-on-year, due to higher extraordinary gains booked in 2013.

Metrobank posted a record-high net profit of P22.5 billion in 2013, buoyed by gains from the sale of shares in its automotive and power generation affiliates. Despite booking lower extraordinary gains in 2014, however, Metrobank reported a strong growth in core businesses.

Net interest income grew by 20 percent to P45.8 billion and contributed 61 percent of the bank’s total operating income, accounting for a much higher share compared to 48 percent in 2013.

Total resources hit a new high of P1.6 trillion as of the end of 2014, up by 16 percent from year-ago level.