Landbank expanding with 20 new branches

Land Bank of the Philippines said it would open 20 new branches this year to reach areas that were deemed underserved by the banking industry.

“Negotiations for the construction of the new branches are now in full swing,” Landbank president Gilda Pico.

Two of the new branches will be in Northern and Central Luzon, seven in the National Capital Region, five in Southern Luzon, three in the Visayas and three in Mindanao.

Landbank said it would also relocate some of its existing branches to areas believed to have more demand for banking services.

The bank now has 329 branches and the new branches will increase the total to 349.

Landbank said its expansion was aimed at expanding its reach to target clients, mainly farmers, fisherfolk, and micro, small and medium enterprises.

Pico earlier said the bank intended to further increase its lending activities in compliance to its developmental objectives.

The bank earlier reported a P9-billion net income for 2011, up by 11 percent from P8.1 billion in the previous year. The income growth was credited largely to increased lending activities.

Its income performance for 2011 allowed Landbank to remit P5 billion in dividends to the national coffers, the highest that a state firm has remitted to the government so far.

The bank said deposits last year hit P507.3 billion, up 17 percent year on year.

Its total assets amounted to P638.9 billion, rising by 13 percent year on year.

The bank said it maintained a comfortable level of capitalization last year, with its capital adequacy ratio (CAR) hitting 16.47 percent as of end-2011.