State-run Land Bank of the Philippines, the country’s fourth-largest lender, said Wednesday net income in the first quarter jumped 15 percent to P4.14 billion from P3.6 billion a year ago.
LandBank president and chief executive Gilda Pico expressed confidence the first-quarter results put the bank on track towards steady growth this year.
Pico said in a statement the first-quarter performance was also 23 percent higher than the target of P3.38 billion for the period.
Pico said the increase in income was buoyed by higher loans amid conservative growth in income from investments.
Interest income on loans jumped 20 percent as the bank’s gross loan portfolio grew to P464.8 billion from P398 billion in the first quarter of 2015.
“We are well-positioned for sustained growth this year as we continue to boost revenue and manage expenses in order to further drive support to our priority sectors, foremost to farmers and fishers, micro-enterprises and SMEs, agribusiness and other development players,” Pico said.
Return on equity reached 17.03 percent in the first quarter, while net interest margin stood at 3.14 percent.
The bank’s total assets expanded 22 percent to P1.28 trillion as of end-March from P1.05 trillion in March 2015. Total deposits rose 25 percent to P1.14 trillion from 911.4 billion in the same period last year while capital expanded 24 percent to P90.12 billion.
LandBank is the only lender present in all provinces with a nationwide network of 361 branches and 1,526 ATMs as of March 2016.
LandBank is expected to become the country’s second-largest lender with the merger with state-run Development Bank of the Philippines.
President Benigno Aquino III earlier approved the merger of the two banks in February 2016. Aquino issued Executive Order No. 198, approving the merger of the two government-owned banks, with LandBank as the surviving entity, given its bigger assets and branch network.
The merger will create the second largest bank, behind BDO Unibank
Inc. with P1.88 trillion in assets as of end-September 2015. It will surpass Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co.’s assets of P1.37 trillion and Bank of the Philippine Islands’ P1.16-trillion resources.