East West Banking Corp. said Wednesday net income in the first nine months declined 41 percent to P3 billion from P5.1 billion a year ago on lower trading gains.
The bank said in a disclosure to the stock exchange the net income of P1.5 billion in the third quarter went up 49 percent from the second quarter and 17 percent from P1.3 billion a year ago. The recovery was driven by increases in loans and fixed-income securities.
EastWest president Jackie Fernandez said 2022 net income was expected to reach P4.5 billion, with the fourth quarter figure projected at P1.5 billion.
“While the income level is expected to be flattish, unlike 2021 when quarterly income was on a decreasing trend due to loan run-offs this year, income is on the uptrend as the bank started to recover lost loan volumes and has rebuilt its fixed income portfolios,” Fernandez said.
Trading gains were above normal levels in 2021 due to the accommodative monetary policy that drove interest rates to very low levels, he said.