Fees, trading gains boost RCBC’s Q1 2019 earnings

RCBC. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/RAFFY LERMA

MANILA, Philippines — Publicly listed Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) reported stronger first quarter earnings, thanks mainly to a surge in fee based income and higher interest margins, bank officials said in a briefing on Monday.

The Yuchengco family-controlled bank said is posted an unaudited consolidated net income of P1.3 billion for the first three months of 2019, representing a 15-percent hike over the P1.1 billion reported for the same period last year. 

“The bank was able to sustain core business growth with net interest income increasing by 10 percent and fee based income by 31 percent,” RCBC treasurer Horacio Cebrero III said. “The strategy of building on our core business led to a growth in net interest income of 10 percent to P5.3 billion in the first quarter of 2019, coming mainly from the growth in the average loan portfolio of our key select markets.”

RCBC president and CEO Gil Buenaventura — who is set to relinquish the helm to CEO-in-waiting Eugene Acevedo on July 1 — said the bank “continued to build on balance sheet strength, with assets of P665 billion  supported by P83Bn of capital” with a focus on growing its core business. 

Loans to small and medium enterprises grew by 12 percent to P53.8 billion. RCBC’s subsidiary, Rizal MicroBank, grew its loans to micro and small business enterprises by 20 percent from a year ago to P1 billion.

Loans to consumers, which includes mortgage loans, automobile loans, and credit cards, increased by 12 percent to P106.9 billion. Gross outstanding credit card receivables accelerated by 31 percent to P22.3 billion for the quarter with an active card base of 733,000, higher by 22 percent versus the same period last year.

Non-interest income for the quarter increased significantly by 71 percent to P2.9 billion, coming from stronger contributions in treasury-related and fee-based income. The bank booked P1.4 billion in trading and foreign exchange gains, P1.1 billion in fee-based income, which includes card related fees *credit and debit cards, trust fees and fees on investment banking and loans).

Meanwhile, the total operating expenses increased by 13 percent to P5.2 billion for the first quarter of 2019 which can be attributed mainly to the significant growth in volume of business as gross revenues jumped 26 percent year on year.

Total resources expanded by 14 percent to P664.7 billion. Total deposits grew by P21.4 billion year-on-year to P416.0 billion with low-cost ones reaching P229.2 billion, higher than the end-March 2018 level of P220 billion. The bank’s capital funds stood at P83.3 billion and well above the minimum regulatory requirement with a capital adequacy ratio of 16.14 percent.