BDO Q1 profit up 41% to P16.5B

MANILA  -BDO Unibank Inc., the country’s biggest lender, closed the first quarter of 2023 with a 41-percent profit surge to P16.5 billion as total loans rose to P2.6 trillion.

“While macroeconomic challenges persist with still elevated inflation and interest rates, the bank believes it is in a good position to weather short-term volatility and capitalize on long-term growth opportunities given its sound balance sheet, established business franchise and strong and diversified earnings streams,” BDO said in a stock exchange filing on Tuesday.

Net interest income during the quarter reached P43.4 billion, a 28-percent jump from the same period in 2021.

Non-interest earnings also rose by more than 13 percent to P18.9 billion from fee-based revenues and foreign exchange gains.

BDO said gross costumer loans expanded by 8 percent to P2.6 trillion while total deposits reached P3.2 trillion, up 14 percent.

“Given the uncertainty, the bank has maintained a healthy balance between loan growth and sufficient liquidity for unforeseen events, maintaining its liquidity ratio at 35 percent,” the lender said.

It also closed the quarter with a return on average common equity of 14.45 percent, higher than 11.09 percent last year.

Its non-performing loan ratio improved to 1.98 percent from 2.72 percent. NPL coverage also increased to 170 percent from 120 percent amid “conservative” credit provisioning.

The bank’s overall operating costs rose 17 percent due to volume-related costs such as credit card interchange fees, documentary stamp taxes and gross receipts taxes, the filing showed.

BDO’s capital base grow to P475.9 billion with capital adequacy ratio and common equity tier 1 ratio of 14.8 percent and 13.7 percent, above the regulatory requirements.