High demand for car loans propelled the earnings of Philippine Savings Bank (PSBank) to a record P2.56 billion in the first half of the year.
In a stock exchange filing on Monday, the thrift banking arm of the Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. (Metrobank) Group said this represented an 18-percent jump from last year’s P2.17 billion.
Net interest income inched up by 4 percent in the January to June period to P6.08 billion as gross loans increased by a tenth to P132 billion.
READ: PNB, PSBank posted record profits in 2023
This was on the back of an 18-percent rise in auto loans, with vehicle sales in the country continuing their uptrend.
Vehicles sold in the Philippines during the first half of the year reached 226,279 units, up by 11.8 percent. Robust sales were seen, in particular, in the commercial vehicle segment, which includes pickups, trucks and buses.
“By prioritizing customer-centricity and a proactive sales approach in our strategy, the bank has seen consistent growth in its core business,” PSBank president Jose Vicente Alde said in a statement.
Despite the loan expansion, PSBank’s nonperforming loans ratio, a key indicator of a bank’s asset quality as it counts the borrowers unable to pay loans, eased to 2.9 percent from 3.5 percent in the same period last year.
The bank’s performance during the period resulted in a return on equity of 12.5 percent versus 11.4 percent last year.
Total assets stood at P220 billion, while total deposits reached P170 billion.
Metrobank, which owns 88 percent of PSBank through chair Arthur Ty, also reported record earnings of P23.6 billion in the first half as it expanded assets while managing costs. —Meg J. Adonis INQ