Sy family-led China Bank Corp., which bucked an industry-wide earnings downturn when the COVID-19 pandemic erupted, is the “best bank” in the Philippines, according to Hong Kong-based The Asset magazine.
The bank’s investment house unit, China Bank Capital, was also named the “best bond adviser” at the The Asset Triple A Country Awards 2021, which will be formally awarded this March.
“These recognitions reflect our commitment to be the best banking partner for our customers, and inspire us to keep on doing our best even in the most challenging of circumstances,” William Whang, president of China Bank, said in a press statement on Friday.
This was the first time for China Bank to win the “best bank” award from The Asset, beating larger banking peers.
The bank and all the other country awardees in Southeast Asia were recognized by The Asset for their zeal and versatility in seeking ways to adapt to challenging conditions and enhancing their services to end-users while recording fee income growth despite the market volatility caused by the global pandemic.
China Bank, in particular, was lauded for its strong financial performance and proven expertise in corporate and institutional banking, advisory and transaction banking, as well as its environmental, social and governance initiatives.
The bank was cited as the country’s best performer in terms of profitability, posting full year net income growth of 20 percent despite the hard lockdowns in 2020, while earnings of most banks dropped.
In the first nine months of 2021, as the economy started to open up, China Bank sustained a 35-percent increase in net profit. It was the only bank in the country to record higher quarterly net income year-on-year since the start of the global pandemic.
In addition, the bank had one of the best cost-efficiency ratios among banks with assets of over P1 trillion.