Robinsons Bank sets P3B capital hike

LANCE Gokongwei

The Gokongwei group seeks to make commercial banking arm Robinsons Bank a more significant player in the banking arena with the infusion of P3 billion in fresh capital by July.

Of the fresh equity, P1.2 billion will be forked out by Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc. and P1.8 billion by JG Summit Holdings Inc., the latter’s president and chief executive officer Lance Gokongwei said in a press chat on Monday after the stockholders meeting of JG Summit.

The fresh capital will allow Robinsons Bank to meet the P15-billion minimum capital required by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas for a bank to operate a network of over 100 branches, Gokongwei said.

“Likewise, Robinsons Bank has been growing very quickly. Among the top 20 banks, it was the fastest grower in percentage terms in 2017, so we’re very supportive of the bank. Therefore in July, we’re going to add P3 billion to the bank’s capital,” he said.

“This will further support our lending growth for in the lending book as well as in our network,” he added.

The bank is 60 percent-owned by JG Summit and 40 percent-owned by RRHI.