Philippine Savings Bank, the thrift bank arm of the Metrobank Group, said over the weekend net income fell 63 percent in 2020 to P1.108 billion from P3.03 billion in 2019 because of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
PSBank said in a statement operating income surged 31 percent before provisions to P7.45 billion last year. This enabled the bank to set aside additional loan loss provisions of more than three times to P6.40 billion in view of the pandemic conditions.
“On the back of a strong balance sheet and capitalization, the bank stayed resilient amidst the challenges of 2020. As a matter of strategy, we took a conservative stance on credit provisioning in anticipation of risks associated with the pandemic,” PSBank president Jose Vicente Alde said.
“The bank prioritized the safety of its employees and customers by quickly instituting COVID-19 safety protocols. We strengthened our digital platforms and made them reliable as the demand for digital banking services exponentially rose,” Alde said.