RCBC hikes net income to P1.8 B

MANILA, Philippines – Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) has reported a 12.43-percent increase in its consolidated net income to P1.8 billion in the first quarter of 2016, from P1.6 billion in the same period last year.

RCBC chairperson Helen Y. Dee said in a report the first quarter results clearly reflect the uptrend in the bank’s core businesses.

“We will continue to execute our strategies and focus on delivering the quality products and services that our clients deserve,” said Dee, who is the bank’s acting chief executive officer.

Net interest income reached P4.21 billion, up 17 percent and represented 67 percent of gross income.

Even with the intense pricing competition, RCBC still achieved an annualized net interest margin (NIM) of 4.27 percent, which remains one of the highest in the industry and a 12 basis points (bps) improvement over the 4.15 percent NIM in fiscal year 2015.

At the same time, loans expanded 12 percent to P302 billion as all market segments sustained growth with average loan volumes of corporate, consumer and SME portfolio increasing 15 percent, 18 percent and 13 percent, respectively.

Meanwhile, deposits reached P317.22 billion with low-cost deposits rising to P204.68 billion.

Total consolidated assets expanded 9.17 percent year-on-year to P488.22 billion while capital funds improved 8.93 percent to P59.93 billion.

Its capital adequacy ratio (CAR) of 16.26 percent was over the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) minimum requirement of 10 percent, while Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio of 13.05 percent also exceeded the minimum CET1 ratio requirement (with capital conservation buffer) of 8.5 percent.

Total branch network grew to 475 branches in March 2016 from 450 last year while automated teller machine (ATM) network increased to 1,405 in March 2016 from 1,208 last year. This resulted in a 2.96 branch-to-ATM ratio, one of the highest in the industry.

Total number of accounts expanded to 7.32 million as of March 2016 from 6.88 million in March 2015, or a compounded annual growth rate of 27.05 percent from the 800,000 accounts in 2006.