BPI’s Q1 profit up 25.6%

Ayala-led Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) grew its first quarter net profit by 25.6 percent year-on-year to P6.25 billion on higher earnings from lending, fee-based and treasury businesses.

This performance brought return on equity to 15 percent, up by 1.89 percentage points from the previous year, BPI disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Thursday.

Total revenues went up by 17.6 percent year-on-year in the first three months to P17.96 billion.

Net interest income improved by 15 percent to P11.49 billion as asset yields rose along with loan volumes.

Non-interest income also expanded by 22.6 percent to P6.46 billion on higher trading gains, service charges, underwriting fees, and income from asset sales.

BPI grew its loan book by 19.9 percent year-on-year to P1.03 trillion while keeping credit quality in check. The ratio of bad loans to the total loan portfolio eased to 1.5 percent in the first quarter from 1.7 percent in the previous year.