RCBC Q1 net income rises by 70%
MANILA -Yuchengco-led Rial Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) saw profit growth surge in the first quarter of the year as it ramped up loans to small businesses and consumers.
Net income from January to March jumped 70 percent to P3.6 billion, the lender said in a stock exchange filing on Thursday.
RCBC said loans went to higher-yield segments such as small-to medium-sized enterprises, consumer loans and credit card receivables.
Credit card billings increased by 67 percent, the filing showed. The lender cited the use data analytics to help it acquire more customers and reduce card delinquency rates.
“We are reinforcing our sales network to enable wider and efficient coverage, guided by data science and analytics to further understand customer needs and serve them better,” RCBC president and CEO Eugene S. Acevedo said in the filing.
The lender’s annualized return on equity improved to 13.3 percent while annualized return on assets reached 1.3 percent.
Meanwhile, deposits jumped 27 percent to P859 billion with current and savings account (Casa) deposits growing 17 percent during the period.
“The bank’s comprehensive suite of cash management services and extensive corporate and SME banking relationships continued to provide the uplift in Casa,” RCBC said.
The lender’s capital expanded by 7 percent. This kept capital adequacy ratios above minimum regulatory requirements.
It said capital would improve with the expected P27.1 billion capital infusion from Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. (SMBC).
“There are many opportunities for synergy and collaboration with SMBC, some of which we have been actively pursuing in the past few months,” Acevedo said.
“By adopting SMBC’s global best practices, we seek to redefine banking as a whole and raise the bar for customer experience,” he added.
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