PSBank head office
Thrift bank Philippine Savings Bank boosted its net profit last year by 13.8 percent to P3.03 billion on the back of higher interest earnings, trading gains and cost-saving measures.
This translated to a return on equity of 10.3 percent and a return on assets of 1.3 percent, the Metrobank group’s thrift bank arm disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Tuesday.
The bank’s profits came from the growth of both its core net interest margin and other operating income, supplemented by upsides from operating efficiencies, the disclosure said.
PSBank’s revenue grew by 2.8 percent to P14.60 billion last year. On the other hand, operating expenses, excluding the provision for impairment and credit losses, amounted to P8.91 billion, down by 2.8 percent from the previous year.
“The bank’s strategy on core growth brought positive results despite the volatile environment in 2019. Challenges were met head on, reinforced by significant contributions from all the bank’s business units,” said PSBank president Jose Vicente Alde.
“We had big wins during the year as we were able to focus on operational efficiency and sustained cost discipline across the organization,” he said.
Alde noted that 2019 was also marked with the introduction of new digital initiatives, such as PaSend and mobile check deposit.
“We are looking forward to an exciting 2020, empowered with the same passion and commitment,” he added.
PSBank’s loan book expanded by 4.7 percent to P164.11 billion last year, driven by the consumer loan business.
Despite an increase in risk assets, the ratio of bad loans to total loans improved to 3.6 percent from 4.2 percent in the previous year.
Total resources ended the year at P224.91 billion, down by 5.4 percent.
On the funding side, total deposits fell by 14 percent to P172.51 billion, as the bank rebalanced its funding mix to focus on retail and alternative sources. PSBank raised P6.3 billion from its two-year maiden offering of local bonds.
Total equity stood at P34.46 billion, up by 41.3 percent. PSBank completed its P8 billion stock rights offer last January 2019.
Total capital adequacy ratio stood at 17.8 percent of risk assets while common equity tier 1 ratio was at 16.8 percent of risk assets, both well above the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ minimum required level.
PSBank currently has 250 branches and 557 automated teller machines nationwide.