China Bank nets P3.6B

SY family-led China Banking Corp. grew its nine-month net profits by 8 percent year-on-year to P3.64 billion as higher interest earnings made up for the slack in trading gains.

This translated to a return on equity of 8.35 percent and a return on assets of 1.02 percent, the bank said in a regulatory filing on Friday.

Net interest income increased by 8 percent year-on-year to P11.17 billion year-on-year as revenues from loans rose while interest expense fell. A significant block of high-cost funds (time deposits) was replaced by low-cost checking and savings accounts, which grew by 16 percent. Net interest margin thus improved to 3.36 percent from 3.23 percent for the same period last year.

Non-interest income dipped by 3 percent year-on-year to P2.96 billion as trading gains declined by 5 percent year-on-year to P365.22 million. The impact of the decline in treasury gains was tempered by the 15-percent increase in earnings from service charges, fees, and commissions which stood at P1.38 billion.