The Philippine Competition Commission approved the acquisition of the automotive loan portfolio of Philippine Bank of Communications by East West Banking Corp.
The transaction involves the purchase by EastWest of a portion of PBCom’s auto loan receivables, specifically limited to dealership-generated accounts, subject to EastWest’s acceptance, and after due diligence and review of relevant documentation.
The PCC said in a decision issued on June 18 the asset acquisition, in particular, the auto loan portfolio, would not likely result in the substantial lessening of competition in the automotive loan market.
The agency said it premised the decision on the finding that the transaction would not likely result in any significant change in market structure. It noted sufficient competitive constraints from other banks offering the same loan types and leases.
EastWest is a subsidiary of the Filinvest Development Corp., the publicly-listed holding company of the Gotianun Group.
The commercial bank is engaged in providing retail banking, consumer lending, corporate banking, rural banking and treasury and trust products.
PBCom, meanwhile, offers basic commercial banking services such as deposit products, treasury, and foreign exchange trading, trade-related services, cash management services, credit and loan facilities, trust and investment management services, as well as ancillary services.
EastWest earlier said net income jumped 36 percent in the first quarter of 2019 to P1.3 billion from a year ago, on the back of higher loans, deposits, fees and trading gains.
Revenues rose 13.3 percent to P6.6 billion from P5.8 billion in the same period last year. The higher revenues were driven by fees and commissions that rose 29 percent to P1.3 billion. Securities and foreign exchange trading gain improved to P525.1 million from a loss of P136.5 million in the same period last year.