Landbank earnings fall 29%

MANILA, Philippines - State-run Landbank of the Philippines said its net income in the first six months of the year fell 29 percent to P6 billion from P8.5 billion in the same period a year ago.

Landbank president and chief executive officer Gilda E. Pico attributed the earnings decline to lower trading gains during the period.

“We still managed to surpass the year-to-date target net revenue by five percent and remain on track to meet our year-end target net income,” she added.

Total assets grew 38 percent to P942 billion this year from P681 billion last year.
Total deposits likewise registered significant growth to P808.4 billion, or 49 percent higher than the P542.8 billion in June last year.

The bank’s total capital stood at P70.4 billion.

The government financial institution’s return on equity improved to 12.7 percent from 10.1 percent, while net interest margin strengthened to 3.6 percent from 3.2 percent.

Risk-weighting capital adequacy ratio (CAR) stood at a strong 15.5 percent.

Landbank operates in 80 provinces with a nationwide network of 345 branches and 1,272 automated teller machines (ATMs). It remains the biggest lender to the agricultural sector, microenterprises, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and local government units.