Security Bank nets P6.1B

SECURITY Bank Corp.’s net profit dipped by 4.7 percent year-on-year to P6.1 billion in the first nine months due to substantial trading gains booked in the comparative year.

This translated to a 16-percent return on shareholders’ equity, one of the highest among the country’s largest banks as SBC grew its core businesses.

For the third quarter alone, SBC’s net profit declined by 50 percent year-on-year to P1.4 billion likewise due to slower trading gains compared to last year. However, this marked an increase of 8 percent compared to the previous quarter.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Tuesday, SBC president Alfonso Salcedo Jr said: “We are on track versus our profit target for the year. Our core revenues are growing at a healthy rate and are poised to make up for lower trading gains when interest rates rise. The net interest margin on our customer loans and deposits business has further improved, benefiting from the growth of our consumer and middle-market loans and low-cost deposits.”

The bank grew its loan book in the first nine months by 20 percent year-on-year to P217 billion while deposits expanded by 19 percent to P275 billion. This suggested that for every P1 of deposits generated, it was able to lend out P0.79.

Nine-month corporate or commercial loans grew by 15 percent and consumer loans rose by 81 percent versus last year’s level.

Net interest income in the nine-month period increased by 7 percent year-on-year to P9 billion. Overall net interest margin was maintained at 3.2 percent during the period.