Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co., the country’s second largest lender, expects loans to grow 18 percent to 20 percent this year amid a rapid economic growth.
Metrobank first vice president and head of strategic planning Jette Gamboa said in an interview the bank expected growth across all segments, including consumer lending, especially the small and medium enterprises, and financing expansion projects of top companies.
Gamboa said the bank, which recently raised P32 billion through a stock rights offering, would primarily use the proceeds from the fund raising activity to expand its banking business.
The bank also aims to add 30 new branches each year over the next three years. The new branches will mainly be located in Metro Manila and provincial areas in Luzon.
“We are prepared to take advantage of the growth of the economy. Economic growth in the Philippines has been quite stable and in order to support that growth we are going to expand out branch network and sales force,” Gamboa said.
He said the bank would expand its business organically and was not actively looking to participate in any merger and acquisitions.
“There is so much organic growth that we can capitalize. The growth that we are seeing is across all segments not just in top corporates but also in consumer space, and middle market and SME and with this capital we should be able to build our business,” Gamboa said.
Metrobank on Wednesday listed 435.4 million common shares that were sold during the rights offering and which raised as much as P32 billion in proceeds.
The additional capital raised from the right offering is expected to further enhance Metrobank’s capital ratios, keeping it well above the Philippine Basel III requirements.
The bank in 2014 registered an 11-percent decline in net income to P20.1 billion from P22.5 billion in 2013 on lower trading gains.
Metrobank in 2014 opened 64 branches to increase its domestic presence to 920 branches, still the largest in the industry. More than half of the network is located outside Metro Manila, placing the bank in a position to better serve the demands of the regional growth areas of the economy. The bank has 2,100 automated teller machines nationwide.