PBCOM doubles net income to P1.4B in H1

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine Bank of Communications (PBCOM) nearly doubled its net income to P1.4 billion in the first nine months of the year from P824 million in the same period last year, a company report submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said.

The 70 percent growth in earnings was attributed to the increase in the bank’s non interest income which grew by 199 percent to P1.99 billion from a year ago when it recorded P1.33 billion in trading gains.

Total assets increased 33 percent to P57.5 billion from a year ago level.

Loans rose 69 percent to P21.8 billion from last year’s P12.9 billion.

Total deposits grew 47 percent to P41.7 billion in the first nine months of the year from last year’s P28.3 billion.

For the first nine months of 2013, net interest income rose 45 percent to P750 million from a year ago.

Its net non-performing loan (NPL) ratio stood at at 0.56 percent. 

The bank said its operating expenses increased 46 percent as it investments in new technology, branch network and human capital as part of its transformation strategy.

“We are committed to our transformation strategy and its focused execution. It’s been a good year and we’ve gained the confidence to continue to pursue the bank’s five-year ambition,” PBCOM president and CEO Nina D. Aguas said.

PBCOM’s capital adequacy ratio as of Sept. 2013 stood at 17.8 percent, well above the regulatory floor of 10 percent.

Aguas said for the past months, there has been a build-up of key senior managers, a change in the bank’s branding and logo, now represented by a dragon, and an introduction of a new branch look and feel to reflect the bank’s thrust towards next level banking.