Bank of the Philippine Islands said Thursday net income in the first three quarters jumped 26.4 percent year-on-year to a record P38.6 billion, driven by sustained loan and margin growth and tempered provisions.
BPI said in a statement this translated into a return on equity of 15.6 percent.
BPI said third-quarter income climbed 33 percent to P13.5 billion, its highest quarterly net income achieved in the past decade. It was driven by the 18.3-percent jump in revenues to P35.3 billion, on the back of higher net interest income and non-interest income.
Total revenues rose 15.3 percent in three quarters to P100.9 billion, on the back of a 24.5-percent increase in net interest income to P76.8 billion, as the average asset base expanded 8.1 percent and net interest margin widened 54 basis points to 4.07 percent.
This was partly offset by the 6.6-percent decline in non-interest income to P24.1 billion due to the property sale gain recognized in the prior year.
“Removing the impact of this one-off transaction, non-interest income would be higher by P3.3 billion or 15.7 percent, on higher fees from credit cards, bancassurance, various service charges and trading gains,” it said.
Operating expenses for the nine-month period grew 21.3 percent to P48.6 billion, due to larger spending for manpower, technology and marketing, resulting in a cost-to-income ratio of 48.2 percent.
Asset quality slightly weakened from last year and the previous quarter, with an NPL (nonperforming loan) ratio of 1.97 percent. Meanwhile, coverage remained adequate, with a 158.95-percent NPL coverage ratio.
BPI booked provisions of P3.0 billion, 60 percent lower than the P7.5 billion recognized over the same period last year.
Total assets rose 7.2 percent to P2.7 trillion year-on-year, with return on assets at 1.95 percent.
Total loans of P1.7 trillion was 8.8 percent higher year-on-year, driven by the loan growth in the corporate, credit card and auto portfolios of 5.3 percent, 37.7 percent and 22.3 percent, respectively.
Deposits climbed 6.7 percent to P2.2 trillion, bringing the loan-to-deposit ratio to 80.2 percent. Total equity stood at P349.6 billion, with an indicative common equity tier 1 ratio of 16.1 percent and a capital adequacy ratio of 17.0 percent, both well above regulatory requirements.