Metrobank 2018 profit surges to P22B

Local banking giant Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. (Metrobank) grew net profit last year by 21 percent to P22 billion as the bank expanded its interest earnings and fee-based income while curbing growth in expenses.

Total resources likewise reached a new all-time high of P2.2 trillion, Metrobank disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Friday.

Metrobank president Fabian Dee commented: “2018 was a milestone year for our bank. Despite the challenging market conditions that especially characterized the second half of the year, we achieved consistent core income growth while keeping operating costs in check and asset quality intact.”

The bank expanded its loan book by 10 percent year-on-year to P1.4 trillion.

This was fueled by the commercial loan portfolio, which rose by 11 percent, driven by top corporate accounts, followed by the middle market and small and medium enterprise accounts.

On the funding side, total deposits inched up by 2 percent to P1.8 trillion, of which 62 percent consisted of low-cost deposits. Funding was supplemented by the issuance of P8.68-billion long-term negotiable certificates of deposit in October, and P28 billion in fixed rate peso bonds in November and December.

As a result, net interest income expanded by 12 percent to P68.8 billion, accounting for 74 percent of the bank’s total revenues of P92.6 billion. Net interest margin expanded to 3.82 percent, better than most peer banks.

Operating expenses, excluding taxes and licenses, increased at a slower pace of 10 percent to P44.9 billion.

Manpower-related costs grew by 11 percent to P22.4 billion, while the balance was spent in support of the bank’s systems and process improvement efforts.

On asset quality, bad loans accounted for 1.2 percent of total loans.

The bank ended 2018 with consolidated assets of P2.2 trillion and equity of P283 billion.