PBCom upgraded to unibank status

MANILA, Philippines — The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has upgraded the status of Lucio Co’s Philippine Bank of Communications (PBCom) to a universal bank allowing it to invest in non-allied enterprises.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, PBCom chairman Eric Recto said the BSP approved the upgrade of the bank’s license to universal from  commercial.

“Our steady growth the past years beginning with the entry of the Lucio Co Group has been noteworthy. We now have a solid capital base from which we can expand our banking services in order to serve the needs of our valued customers. We, the shareholders and management of PBCom, are all excited about this new chapter in our history and would like to give our thanks to the BSP for having guided us through this journey,” Recto said.

With the upgrade, the listed bank can now invest in non-allied enterprises and allows the bank to expand its product and service offerings.

PBCom, founded in 1939, now has 95 branches nationwide and has complemented its network with   digital corporate cash management services (PBCOM POP-Business), online and mobile banking (PBCOM POP-Personal), and   cloud-based digital accounts via the PBCOMobile app.

PBCom is the country’s 19th largest bank in terms of assets and capital with P109.34 billion and P15.01 billion, respectively, as of end- September last year.

In August 2014, PBCom signed a subscription agreement with Co’s P.G. Holdings lnc. for the subscription of 181.08 million  common shares at P33 per share. The shares were issued out of the unissued portion of the bank’s authorized capital stock.

The subscription by PGH to the new shares of the parent company amounting to P5.98 billion was approved by the BSP on Sept.  23, 2014.

Subsequently in September 2014, VFC Land Resources lnc. acquired 59.24 million shares at P33 per share from the ISM Group.

The Co family owns PGH and VFC, bringing the family’s total stake in PBCom to 49.99 percent.

The Co family, through PGH and VFC, bought additional shares in 2015, 2018, and 2021. As of September last year, the Co family owns 54.07 percent of PBCom.