China Bank dividends total P1.42B

China Banking Corp. reported that its first quarter net profit grew by 27 percent to P1.1 billion year-on-year due to higher interest and fee-based earnings, hefty trading gains and sale of idle assets.

During the bank’s annual stockholders meeting late Thursday, a 10-percent stock and P12 a share cash dividend worth P1.42 billion was declared. The cash dividends represented 27.9 percent of the bank’s earnings per share of P43.02 last year.

The stockholders also approved a ten-for-one stock split of the bank’s common shares to enable China Bank to become more liquid. This means that shareholders will receive 10 shares for each share they held.

For the first quarter, the P1.1 billion net income translates to a return on equity of 11.02 percent, and a return on assets of 1.64 percent.

During the quarter, the Bank reported strong growth in loans and fee-based income but modest growth in deposits, while experiencing thinner margins from the continuing decline in asset yields.

The bank’s customer loans portfolio stood at P154 billion by end-March—up by 34 percent from a year ago, driven by higher bookings from retail, commercial, and consumer borrowers. Despite the drop in lending rates, the higher loan volume boosted interest income from loans and receivables by 15 percent.

The bank’s total resources stood at P272 billion, up by 14 percent from the same period last year. The bank’s deposit base expanded by 14 percent to P222 billion with total low-cost deposits at P81 billion. Doris C. Dumlao