Rise in trading gains boosts UCPB profit
United Coconut Planters Bank
MANILA, Philippines—United Coconut Planters Bank grew its year-on-year net profit in the first three months of this year by 34 percent to P883.7 million as large trading gains added to interest earnings.
Given the robust first quarter results, UCPB is aiming for a net profit of P3.5 billion to P4 billion for the full year. In 2011, the bank posted a profit of P3.05 billion.
In the first quarter, UCPB took advantage of the volatile fixed income market and unlocked trading gains of P486.9 million or more than three times larger than the P111.2 million trading gains a year ago. “Businesses normally slow down during this period but we still managed to sustain our growth in 2011. Our strong first quarter (2012) performance bodes well for the future of the bank.” UCPB president Jeronimo Kilayko said in a statement.
Interest income from loans also rose by 15 percent as the bank expanded its loan portfolio by some 18.5 percent to P73.6 billion as of end-March from year-ago level. The loan growth was boosted by the rise in consumer loans, which was attributed to the bank’s tie-ups with major real estate developers that provided the bank access to more clients.
UCPB funded the increase in its earning assets mostly by generating inexpensive checking and savings accounts (Casa), which amounted to P102.2 billion as of end-March, up from P98 billion a year ago. Casa accounted for 63 percent of the total deposit base, which rose by 9 percent to P162 billion during the period.
As of end-March, UCPB’s total assets stood at P204 billion, 13 percent higher year on year, while total capital rose by 23 percent to P17.9 billion.
