Land Bank posts 4% profit growth

MANILA, Philippines—Land Bank of the Philippines posted a 4-percent rise in net income in the first half of the year to P5.74 billion from P5.52 billion a year ago.

Land Bank president Gilda E. Pico, in a statement, said the profit increase was largely driven by the steady increase in the bank’s revenues from loans and investments.

Pico also said Land Bank had been enhancing its expenditure management to further improve its financial condition.

The bank’s loan portfolio hit P249.9 billion as of the end of June, up by 5 percent from P237.9 billion a year ago.

Priority sectors for Land Bank’s loan programs include the agriculture and fisheries sector, cooperatives, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and rural banks. Land Bank extends wholesale loans to rural banks, which extend the loans to their end borrowers.

The increase in the bank’s loan portfolio was aided by an increase in deposits gathered from the public. Deposits as of June amounted to P461.9 billion, down by nearly 4 percent from P479.8 billion a year ago.—Michelle V. Remo