Asia United Bank nets P1.8B

Rebisco group-led Asia United Bank reported a 52.1 percent year-on-year growth in nine-month net income to P1.8 billion on higher lending activities.

“Despite lowering interest spreads and scant trading opportunities, the AUB Group sustained its double-digit growth through increases in loans and deposits, plus declining costs of funds and operations,” the bank said in a press statement on Monday.

The AUB Group, composed of publicly listed universal bank AUB and two rural bank units, grew its loan book by 10.9 percent year-on-year in the first nine months to P95.8 billion.

On the funding side, deposits likewise grew by 7.9 percent year-on-year to P121.5 billion as of end-September.

Also contributing to the group’s bottomline, the bank said, was the increase in other income, largely coming from trading and securities gains amounting to P557.9 million for the nine-month period.

AUB is among the top 20 banks in the Philippines with an asset size of P157.6 billion.

Its first cash dividend was P0.67 per share paid last September , two years after its initial public offering. It again paid a second dividend this year, at P0.33 per share last October 2016.

Incorporated in 1997, AUB is a universal bank with a total network of 238 branches, including those of its subsidiaries, the Rural Bank of Pampanga, and thrift bank arm Cavite United Rural Bank.