China Bank nets P3.3B

SY family-led China Banking Corp. booked a 30 percent year-on-year growth in first semester net profit to P3.27 billion as higher treasury gains complemented a strong growth in core and fee-based businesses.

This six-month performance translated to a return on equity (ROE) of 10.74 percent and a return on assets (ROA) of 1.22 percent, China Bank disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Thursday.

“We are encouraged by the strong positive results in the first semester despite the challenging market conditions,” China Bank president and chief executive officer Ricardo Chua said.

“Our core business drivers are showing healthy growth, our various initiatives are gaining traction, and China Bank Savings is well on its way to make a significant contribution to group profitability this year,” Chua added.

Net revenues before operating expenses grew by 15 percent to P10.85 billion, with net interest revenues up by 7 percent to P7.95 billion. The bank expanded its loan book by 12 percent year-on-year to P324.03 billion compared to the same period last year.

Non-interest revenues rose by 42 percent to P2.9 billion, supported by significantly higher trading gains which reached P993.52 million for the semester from only P345.91 million last year. There was likewise a 16-percent increase in service charges, fees and commissions.

On the other hand, total operating expenses rose by 11 percent to P6.66 billion as the bank continued its network expansion and embarked on new product initiatives.

Total assets increased by 16 percent year-on-year to P555.55 billion, driven by loans and deposit
growth. The 12 percent loan growth was underpinned by a 24-percent surge in consumer loans.

On the funding side, total deposits grew by 16 percent year-on-year to P462.62 billion, with low-cost deposits rising by 18 percent to P239.04 billion. Of total deposits, 51.67 percent now consisted of low-cost deposits (current account and savings account) compared to 50.66 percent last year. For every peso of deposits, the bank was able to lend out P0.72.

China Bank’s total capital funds rose by 6.23 percent to P62.47 billion. Core or tier 1 capital adequacy ratio (CAR) and total CAR ended the semester at 12.28 percent and 13.2 percent, respectively./rga