Casuela named PNB OIC as Veloso heads to GSIS

The board of Lucio Tan-led Philippine National Bank (PNB) has appointed longtime director and veteran banker Florido Casuela as officer in charge following the resignation of PNB president and CEO Jose Arnulfo “Wick” Veloso.

On July 5, the board accepted and approved the resignation of Veloso, who joined the Marcos administration as president of state pension fund Government Service Insurance System.

Thus, Casuela was appointed officer in charge of PNB on the same day. He also resigns as chair of the PNB Trust Committee, to be replaced by Tan’s daughter, Shiela Pascual, a separate filing showed.

Casuela was first appointed as PNB director in 2006. He also sits as chair of PNB Securities Inc. and Casuela Equity Ventures Inc., director of PNB International Investments Corp., PNB RCI Holdings Co. Ltd. and Surigao Micro Credit Corp.

Senior adviser

Casuela was a former president of Land Bank of the Philippines, Maybank Philippines, Surigao Micro Credit Corp. and a former senior adviser at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

Veloso joined PNB in 2018 and led the lender through the challenging COVID-19 pandemic, departing as recovery at the banking giant gained ground.

PNB booked a profit of P2.8 billion in the first quarter of 2022, up 57 percent from the same period the previous year on higher interest earnings and lower expenses for bad loans.

Net interest income reached P8.5 billion, up 3 percent, on higher yields on loans and reduced interest costs on deposits. Net interest margin of the bank rose to 3.4 percent from 3.2 percent in the same quarter in 2021.

Gross loans at the end of the quarter dropped 7 percent to P583.9 billion. PNB said the decline was due to the shift to “borrowers under financially resilient industries.” On the other hand, deposit liabilities rose 3 percent to P869.9 billion due to the buildup of current and savings accounts. INQ