Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., the ninth-largest lender in terms of assets, said consolidated net income rose 12.4 percent in the first quarter to P1.8 billion from P1.6 billion a year ago, on the strength of core businesses.
This resulted into an annualized return on equity and return on assets of 12.24 percent and 1.43 percent, respectively, the company said.
“We are pleased with our first-quarter 2016 financial results as these numbers clearly demonstrated RCBC’s core business uptrend. We will continue to execute our strategies and focus on delivering the quality products and services that our clients deserve,” RCBC chairperson Helen Dee said in a statement.
Net interest income grew 17 percent to P4.21 billion, which represented 67 percent of gross income.
RCBC said even with the intense pricing competition, it still achieved an annualized net interest margin of 4.27 percent, which remained one of the highest in the sector and a 12-basis-point improvement over the 4.15 percent NIM a year earlier.
Loans, excluding interbank loans, expanded 12 percent to P302 billion. All market segments sustained their growth with average loan volumes of corporate, consumer and SME increasing by 15 percent, 18 percent, and 13 percent, respectively.
Meanwhile, microfinance lending through unit Rizal Microbank continued its consistent climb with outstanding loan portfolio increasing by 119 percent. Interest income from the lending business accounted for 81 percent of the total interest income of the bank.
Asset quality remained well-managed with NPL ratios of the parent bank at 0.24 percent and consolidated bank at 0.82 percent.
Other operating income reached P2.11 billion, representing 33 percent of gross income.
Total deposits reached P317.22 billion while current and savings account deposits rose to P204.68 billion, translating into Casa-to-deposits ratio of 64.52 percent as of end-March 2016, up from 63.25 percent as of end-March 2015.
Consolidated assets expanded 9.2 percent year-on-year to P488.22 billion as of end-March, while capital funds improved 8.9 percent year-on-year to P59.93 billion.
Capital adequacy ratio of 16.26 percent was above Bangko Sentral’s minimum requirement of 10 percent while common equity tier 1 ratio of 13.05 percent also exceeded the minimum CET1 ratio requirement (with capital conservation buffer) of 8.50 percent.
RCBC’s distribution network grew to 475 branches as of end-March 2016 from 450 a year ago, while ATMs increased to 1,405 from 1,208.
This resulted in a 2.96 branch-to-ATM ratio, one of the highest in the industry.
The bank’s total number of accounts expanded 27 percent to 7.32 million as of end-March 2016 6.88 million a year ago.
RCBC is a leading financial services provider in the Philippines offering a wide range of banking and financial products and services.
RCBC received a rating upgrade to Baa3 (stable) by Moody’s Investor Services in May 2015 from Ba2 and is rated BB (stable) by Fitch Ratings. RCBC is a member of the Yuchengco Group of Companies, one of the oldest and largest conglomerates in Southeast Asia.