BANK of the Philippine Islands (BPI) posted net income of P10.1 billion in the third quarter amid higher revenues, it reported on Thursday.
The Ayala-led lender said in a disclosure to the local bourse that its net profit for the July-August came on the back of a 26.8% year-on-year growth in revenues to P29.8 billion amid double-digit expansion in its net interest and non-interest incomes and as its customer base exceeded 9 million.
This brought the bank’s bottom line for the first nine months to P30.5 billion, backed by higher revenues and lower provisions for loan losses.
This translated to a return on equity (RoE) and return on assets (RoA) of 13.73% and 1.66%, respectively.
“Excluding the impact of the one-off gain from sale of property in the second quarter and adjustments due to the CREATE (Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises) Law, net income would have been P26.8 billion for an RoE of 12.05% and RoA of 1.46%,” the bank said.
Other third-quarter figures were not immediately available.
The bank’s total revenues for the first nine months grew by 22.1% to P87.5 billion, driven by the 20.5% year-on-year jump in net interest income to P61.6 billion. This came on the back of sustained loan growth and a 23-basis-point (bp) expansion in its average net interest margin to 3.53%.
Meanwhile, BPI’s non-interest earnings rose by 26.2% year on year to P25.8 billion at end-September, driven by a one-off gain from an asset sale, foreign exchange transaction gains, and fees from its credit cards business.
Total operating expenses also increased by 9.9% to P40.1 billion in the first nine months, driven by the bank’s investments for technology and on higher regulations.
Cost-to-income ratio was at 45.8%. Excluding the impact of the asset sale, the ratio was at 48.6%.
BPI’s total loans hit P1.6 trillion at end-September, up 15.4% year on year, as its credit card loans, corporate loans, and auto portfolios rose by 29.1%, 16.4%, and 12.1%, respectively.
Despite the increase in credit, its nonperforming loan (NPL) ratio stood at 1.94%, while NPL coverage ratio was at 176.9% as of end-September.
According to the lender, its loan loss provisions as of September declined by 26.8% to P7.5 billion.
On the funding side, deposits with the bank likewise increased 13.2% to P2 trillion as of September.
Its low-cost current account, savings account (CASA) deposits grew 7.5%, bringing its CASA ratio to 76.1%.
BPI’s loan-to-deposit ratio was at 78.7% as of September.
The bank’s assets increased 11.8% year on year to P2.5 trillion in the January to September period, while total equity stood at P313.4 billion.
Its common equity Tier 1 ratio was at 15.9% at end-September, while its capital adequacy ratio was at 16.8%. Both are above the regulatory minimum.
BPI last month announced its planned merger with Robinsons Bank Corp. (RBC), which is expected to be finished by end-2023. BPI will be the surviving entity.
According to BPI, the deal “will unlock various synergies across several products and service platforms and expand the customer and deposit base of both banks through the merged entity.”
Upon its closing, RBC’s shareholders will hold approximately 6% of the resulting outstanding capital stock of BPI.
BPI’s shares closed at P93.40 apiece on Thursday, up by P1.40 or 1.52%. — K.B. Ta-asan
