EastWest Bank 2022 core income up 42%

MANILA, Philippines  – The Gotianiun family-led East West Banking Corp. recorded robust profits in 2022 as revenues expanded on the growth of its loans portfolio.

It said in a statement on Monday that core net income, which excluded one-off gains, grew 42 percent to P4.6 billion. Revenues last year were also up 12 percent to P28.1 billion.

“We accelerated our loan bookings in the second half across all lending products which improved our earning capacity back to prepandemic levels. We intend to exceed this in 2023, as we carry on the momentum from last year,” EastWest president Jacqueline S. Fernandez said in the statement.

The lender said loans last year grew 20 percent on the back of gains from credit cards, business and salary loans.

Total deposits were steady at P329.2 billion while the current account savings account deposit ratio increased to 79 percent from 75 percent.

EastWest ended the year with total assets of P421.4 billion, with its balance structure “shifting largely towards higher yielding consumer lending assets.”

Moreover, capital ratios stood at 13.8 percent and 13 percent for capital adequacy ratio and common equity tier 1 ratio above the regulatory requirements.

“The full year impact of our 2022 asset build-up will be felt this year on our core income performance. The growth momentum should improve this further as we exceed pre-pandemic asset levels this year,” Jerry G. Ngo, the newly-appointed CEO of EastWest, said in the statement.

“Though we expect some headwinds particularly from the higher interest rate environment, the country’s growth prospects remain intact. We believe that [EastWest] is at the right place and at the right time, as we partner with our customers to rebuild and grow together,” he added.

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