Security Bank Corp. said Thursday it posted a net income of P9.1 billion in 2023 on the back of an 8-percent increase in revenues to P43 billion.
The bank said its net interest income increased 19 percent to P34.7 billion, while net interest margin improved to 4.49 percent from 4.23 percent in 2022. Total non-interest income was at P8.2 billion.
“The economy is adjusting to moderating levels of inflation and continued elevated interest rates. Our growth for 2023 in both loans and deposits was evident across our retail and SME segments. In turn, our wholesale teams successfully secured key mandates to support client growth initiatives. We will accelerate that growth in 2024 and continue to deliver on our transformation goals,” Security Bank president and chief executive Sanjiv Vohra said.
Service charges, fees and commissions grew 15 percent to P6.1 billion, led by higher fees from credit cards, remittances (which include Instapay fees) and bancassurance.
Operating expense went up 14 percent, driven by investments in manpower and technology. Cost-to-income ratio was 60.8 percent, higher than 57.8 percent in 2022.
Pre-provision operating profit rose 1 percent year-on-year to P16.9 billion.
The bank budgeted P4.8 billion as provisions for credit and impairment losses in 2023, a 69-percent increase from the 2022 level of P2.8 billion, given impacts from provisions releases in 2022 and elevated costs for credit cards in 2023.
Gross non-performing loan ratio was 3.36 percent and NPL reserve cover was 82 percent.
Return on shareholders’ equity was 6.95 percent and return on assets was 1.06 percent.