AUB 2022 profit jumps 56% to P6.3B

MANILA  -The Ng family-led Asia United Bank (AUB) hopes to weather challenges in 2023 and sustain growth after consolidated net income jumped 56 percent to P6.3 billion last year.

“We believe our agility in achieving a balance among growth, pricing, expense and risk management will continue to enable us to surmount the challenges of higher inflation and interest rate volatility that are seen to persist in 2023,” AUB president Manuel A. Gomez said in a statement.

The lender said earnings were lifted by increased loan volume, higher margins, and a significant reduction in expenses for bad debts.

Loans and investment securities pushed up next interest income by 18 percent to P12.9 billion. This translated to a net interest margin of 4.2 percent versus 3.7 percent in the previous year, it said in the statement.

Overall, AUB said its loan portfolio expanded by 12 percent to P195 billion in 2022.

“The heftier loan volume mostly came from the bank’s corporate clients which started restocking their inventories and resuming business activities due to the economy’s reopening,” AUB noted.

The recovery of the economy also cut its loan loss provisions by 33 percent to P1.6 billion. Thus, the bank’s non-performing loans ratio dropped to 1 percent with an NPL coverage ratio of 115.1 percent.

During the same period, deposits grew by 10 percent to P288.8 billion. AUB said 75 percent came from efficient current account and savings account deposits.

Meanwhile, operational expenses were kept in check as these rose 2 percent, resulting in a cost-to-income ratio of 37.5 percent. This was lower than 42.4 percent compared to the previous year.

AUB’s cost-saving measures included ‘continuous automation enhancements and process optimization to deliver quality services to customers efficiently at less cost.”

AUB ended 2022 with total assets of P340.2 billion, up 7 percent. Total equity stood at P39.9 billion, with a common equity tier 1 ratio of 13.7 percent and a capital adequacy ratio of 14.3 percent, both above regulatory requirements.