EastWest profit hits P443M

Eastwest Bank posted P443 million in first-quarter profit, down by 6.8 percent from a year ago due to a decline in trading gains.

This translated to a return on equity of 18.43 percent for the first three months, one of the highest in the industry, as the bank expanded its recurring income base at a much faster pace relative to its operating expenses, EastWest said in a statement.

Net interest income rose by 9.2 percent to P1.09 billion from year-ago level as the bank continued to increase its lending business while managing its cost of funds.

It expanded its loan book by 26.9 percent year on year to P39.54 billion, evenly split between consumer and corporate loans.

Consumer lending climbed by 10.5 percent due to significant expansion in the bank’s auto loan and credit-card operations while corporate loans expanded by 34.6 percent from a year ago.

Trading gains contracted by 70.6 percent year on year to P70 million. Excluding trading gains, however, non-interest income increased by 7.8 percent to P419 million from a year ago.

Net revenue for the quarter stood at P1.58 billion, down by 2.9 percent from a year ago, despite lower trading gains. Total operating expenses inched up by 2 percent, with the increase coming from manpower expenses as the bank continued to beef up its talent pool.

Total resources went up by 3.3 percent to P75.65 billion by the end of first quarter. This expansion in assets was supported by a 5.4-percent rise in deposits to P57.5 billion from a year ago, largely fueled by the growth in low-cost funds.

On asset quality, EastWest reported a nonperforming loan ratio for the period of 5.76 percent. The bank said this would be significantly reduced as the bank would write off more soured loans. If the bank were to exclude the NPLs that were 100 percent provided for, the ratio will be reduced to just 3.8 percent.—Doris C. Dumlao