PNB profit in 2019 hit P 9.8B, up 2%
Tycoon Lucio Tan-led Philippine National Bank (PNB) grew net profit last year by 2 percent to P9.8 billion on higher earnings from lending, fee-based and treasury businesses.
“I am pleased with the improvements in our core income for 2019. Excluding the impact of nonrecurring gains from the sale of foreclosed assets, the bank’s core net income grew by 57 percent year-on-year,” PNB president and chief executive officer Wick Veloso said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange.
“The year’s financial results reflect the strength of PNB’s franchise in its wholesale and retail businesses. We expect to sustain the improvement in the quality of earnings of the bank as we enhance the safe and aggressive growth strategy with added focus on profitability moving forward,” Veloso added.PNB’s net interest income expanded by 20 percent year-on-year to P32.4 billion on the back of improved earnings from loans to corporate, commercial and small and medium enterprises, alongside other interest-earning assets.
The bank expanded its loan book by 12 percent last year to P657.9 billion, thereby growing its earning assets. On the funding side, PNB’s deposit base grew by 13 percent to P826 billion.
Net service fees and commission income grew by 20 percent from enhanced cross-selling efforts, resulting in improvements in underwriting fees from capital market transactions as well as loan, deposit and credit card-related fees.Meanwhile, net trading and foreign exchange gains expanded by 97 percent, resulting mainly from favorable opportunities in the market.
Net gains from sale of acquired assets, on the other hand, declined to P690 million compared to the previous year’s P5.9 billion. Despite the reduction, total operating income registered a 6-percent improvement due to the growth in core revenues.Excluding net gains from sales of foreclosed asset sales, total operating income increased by 22 percent year-on-year.PNB’s total consolidated resources at end-2019 stood at P1.14 trillion, up by 16 percent from the previous year.
Operating expenses, excluding provisions for impairment and credit losses, grew by 9 percent over the same period last year.
On asset quality, PNB’s bad loans as a ratio of total loans stood at 1.99 percent of gross loans. —Doris Dumlao-Abadilla INQ
