BPI 9-month profit jumps 25.6%

Ayala-led Bank of the Philippine Islands posted a 25.6-percent year-on-year growth in net profit in the first nine months to P17.38 billion, buoyed by higher interest and non-interest earnings.

Net interest income rose by 9.1 percent year-on-year to P31.28 billion, driven by the 14.3-percent rise in revenue to P50.42 billion for the nine-month period.

The bank grew its loan book for the period by 19.4 percent year-on-year to P931.12 billion.

Non-interest income in January to September rose by 23.9 percent to P19.14 billion, attributed to strong gains in trading and rise in fees earned from core transactional and bancassurance businesses.

Bancassurance refers to the cross-selling of insurance products across bank branches.

“I am very pleased with BPI’s strong earnings momentum going into the end of the year,” BPI president and chief executive officer Cezar Consing said in a press statement on Wednesday.

Operating expenses rose by 11.7 percent year-on-year to P25.58 billion.

The bank also continued to raise provisions, which hit P3.95 billion, up 20.1 percent from a year ago.

On asset quality, 90-day non-performing loans (NPLs) as a ratio of total loans dropped to 1.6 percent from 1.8 percent a year ago while reserve coverage ended at 112.3 percent.

Total assets hit P1.59 trillion, up 12.8 percent,  while total capital rose by 10.1 percent to P165.56 billion.