Metrobank earnings surged in H1 as appetite for credit grew

A growing loan portfolio, along with better interest income, drove Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co.’s (Metrobank) earnings higher by 33 percent in the first half.

In a disclosure on Tuesday, Metrobank reported that its net profits attributable to equity holders of the parent company rose to P15.6 billion for the period from the previous year’s P11.7 billion.

For the second quarter alone, its net income nearly doubled to P7.6 billion.

The Ty family-led bank saw its gross loans improve by 9 percent to P1.3 trillion as of end-June, driven by 12-percent growth in corporate and commercial lending and 16-percent increase in gross credit card receivables.

With nonperforming loans (NPLs) decreasing by 7 percent, the ratio of NPLs to total loans fell to 1.9 percent from 2.3 percent a year ago; the first half figure is below the 3.9 percent NPL ratio industry average in May. NPLs are loans that have been unpaid for at least 90 days.

It has NPL coverage, or the allowance for potential losses arising from bad loans as a percentage of the total loans, of 196 percent.

Interest income was up around 2.5 percent to P45.03 billion in the first half.Non-interest income climbed by 8 percent to P15.2 billion in the first half, thanks to better revenues from service charges, fees and commissions. Earnings from trading, meanwhile, dropped by 15 percent to P3.43 billion due to market volatility.

Total deposits picked up by 13 percent to P2.1 trillion, a bulk of which was accounted for by current and savings accounts (Casa). Casa deposits rose by 10 percent to P1.5 trillion for the period.

As of end-June, the universal bank’s consolidated assets and total equity stood at P2.7 trillion and P303.4 billion, respectively. It has a capital adequacy ratio of 17.6 percent and common equity tier 1 ratio of 16.8 percent, which show a “strong” balance sheet. INQ