Bank assets grow 10 percent to P24.8 trillion

MANILA, Philippines — Philippine banks’ assets grew by 10.3 percent to P24.81 trillion in January from the P22.49 trillion recorded a year ago, according to data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

By banking group, the total resources of universal and commercial banks rose by 10 percent to P23.29 trillion from P21.16 trillion in the comparable period, data also showed.

Big banks accounted for 93.9 percent of the banking industry’s total resources in January.

Likewise, the assets of thrift or mid-sized banks increased by 5.6 percent to P1.02 trillion in January versus the year-ago level of P961.91 billion.

Total resources of rural and cooperative banks inched up by 4.5 percent to P414 billion from P396 billion.

Meanwhile, the assets of digital banks stood at P89 million in January. The BSP only started collecting data for the new banking sector in March 2023.

Last year, the assets of banks operating in the Philippines booked a 9.2-percent growth to P25.17 trillion from P23.05 trillion in 2022 as the economy continued to recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The banking sector is dominated by family-owned conglomerates led by Sy-led BDO Unibank, Ty-led Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. (Metrobank), Ayala-led Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) and Sy-led China Banking Corp. (Chinabank).

As of end-September 2023, BDO Unibank Inc. is the country’s biggest bank with total assets of P4.1 trillion, according to BSP’s ranking of top lenders in terms of assets.

The government-owned Land Bank of the Philippines is the second largest lender with total assets of P3.08 trillion followed by Metrobank with total assets of P2.84 trillion.

Ayala-led BPI with P2.68 trillion is in fourth place while Chinabank, a sister company of BDO, has P1.47 trillion.

The other banks in the list are Yuchengco-owned Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., Lucio Tan’s Philippine National Bank, state-owned Development Bank of the Philippines, Aboitiz-led Union Bank of the Philippines and Security Bank Corp.

The net income of the Philippine banking industry rose by 14.4 percent to P354.93 billion in 2023 from P310.12 billion in 2022 on the back of higher interest earnings and strong demand for loans.