Robinsons Bank allots P1 billion for capex

MANILA, Philippines — Robinsons Bank Corp. has earmarked close to P1 billion for its capital expenditures this year, particularly to finance information technology-related projects amid the shift in consumer behavior due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a quarterly report submitted to the Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp. (PDEx), the Gokongwei-owned bank said it plans to spend about P959.79 million mainly for the implementation of IT-related projects and the expansion of its branch network.

“These will be funded out of cash flows from operations,” the bank said.

This year’s capex budget was almost 10 percent higher than the P877.7 million the bank committed to spend last year.

For the first quarter, the bank’s net income fell by 33.4 percent to P234.38 million from P351.97 million in the same quarter last year.

Robinsons Bank attributed the decline to the 32.3 percent jump in operating expenses to P1.65 billion as provision for potential loan losses quadrupled to P425.59 million from P106.46 million due to uncertainties brought about by the global health crisis.

Operating income of the country’s 18th largest lender in terms of assets went up 11.1 percent to P1.85 billion. Net interest income rose by 18.7 percent to P1.61 billion, while net service fees and commission income jumped by 28.5 percent to P78.39 million on account of higher revenues earned on fee-based activities.

This despite the 49 percent plunge in trading and securities gains to P128.84 million in the first quarter from P233.66 million in the same period last year.