Union Bank profit breaches P10B

Aboitiz-led Union Bank of the Philippines chalked up a record-high net profit breaching the P10-billion mark in 2016 on the back of higher interest earnings, fee-based income and gains from sale of securities.

In a press statement on Monday, Union Bank – the first among the country’s big banks to report last year’s results – said net profit surged by 67 percent year-on-year to P10.1 billion.

The earnings performance translated to a return on equity of 16.9 percent.

“We are very pleased with our collective results. All of our major business segments contributed significantly to the bottom-line. More importantly, we were able to scale up our recurring revenue base, while making substantial headway in our journey towards digital transformation,” said Edwin Bautista, UnionBank president and chief operating officer.

The bank’s loan book went up by 31 percent to P235.4 billion last year, allowing total assets to close the year at P524.4 billion.

On the funding side, total deposits grew by 21 percent to P376.5 billion, with low-cost current account-savings account deposits increasing by 18 percent.

The combined growth in customer loans and deposits boosted recurring revenues by 21 percent
to P19.2 billion.

Net interest income expanded by 22 percent to P14.8 billion, while fees grew by 19 percent to P4.4 billion.

The bank reported that full year performance was also enhanced by tax-exempt profits from securities sold in the second half of the year to support the bank’s loan growth strategy. This meant that Union Bank pared down its investments in securities to channel more resources for lending.

Net trading gains surged to P3.81 billion last year from only P274.23 million in 2015.