BPI closes 2022 with record high income

The Ayala Group’s Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) saw profits soar to a record P39.6 billion in 2022 amid the strong recovery of its core businesses, a stock exchange filing showed.

BPI, whose earnings were also bolstered by the sale of a property and lower loan loss provisions, said full-year income was up 66 percent versus profits in 2021.

Revenues also reached a historic-high of P118.5 billion, up 21.7 percent from the previous year.

The lender said net interest income jumped 22.2 percent to P85.1 billion on the back of “asset base expansion” and a 28-basis point increase in net interest margin to 3.59 percent.

Non-interest income grew 20.3 percent to P33.5 billion. Bulk came from the one-off gain on the property sale, higher fees from the credit card business and transaction banking services, as well as gains from foreign exchange transactions, BPI noted.

Bad loan buffer

Moreover, loan loss expenses fell 30.2 percent to P9.2 billion as nonperforming loans (NPL) ratio fell to 1.76 percent. BPI ended the year with an NPL coverage ratio of 180.1 percent.

Overall, operating expenses rose 14.3 percent to P58 billion with all categories showing increases, led by technology and marketing. The cost-to-income ratio stood at 48.9 percent.

BPI’s return on equity stood at 13.14 percent while return on assets ended at 1.59 percent.

The lender’s total loan portfolio rose 15.3 percent to P1.7 trillion. The credit card segment grew by 31.1 percent, followed by corporate and small business loans (+15.5 percent), and car loans (+14 percent).

Total deposits expanded to P2.1 trillion, up 7.2 percent year-on-year, while current and savings account (Casa) deposits increased 3.5 percent. The bank’s base of low-cost Casa deposits accounted for 81.2 percent of its deposit ratio.

BPI’s total assets reached P2.6 trillion, a gain of 7.5 percent for the whole year while total equity stood at P317.7 billion, with a common equity tier 1 ratio of 15.1 percent and a capital adequacy ratio of 16 percent, all of which were above regulatory requirements. INQ