BDO submits permit requirements to continue Cebu operations

MANILA, Philippines – BDO Unibank Incorporated said on Monday, February 6, that it had submitted its permit requirements to the Cebu City government to prevent the closure of its 26 branches in the city.

Despite its compliance, however, BDO said in a statement that “the city government has refused to accept payments for local taxes and fees, and issue the permits, contrary to what they did in the past.”

This was after SunStar Cebu reported on Saturday, February 4, that the city government might close 26 BDO branches after finding out that these are operating without business permits.

“We would like to apologize for whatever inconvenience the recent threat of branch closures in Cebu City has created,” BDO said in response to the news report. (READ: Investors swarm BDO’s largest stock rights offering)

BDO said it had made the necessary arrangements for its clients in Cebu to be serviced in alternative locations.

“This is a local issue and has no bearing whatsoever on the operation of the bank as a whole,” BDO said.

BDO saw its net income surge to P19.3 billion in the first 9 months of 2016, from the P17.6-billion in the same period in 2015, thanks to higher customer loans and deposits.

To keep up with demand, BDO president Nestor Tan said his firm is looking at opening as much as 70 branches in 2017, mostly outside Metro Manila.

BDO has one of the largest distribution networks, with more than 1,000 operating branches and over 3,000 ATMs nationwide.

It also has a branch in Hong Kong as well as 25 overseas remittance and representative offices in Asia, Europe, North America, and the Middle East.

BDO is the country’s largest bank in terms of total assets, loans, deposits and trust funds under management based on published statements of condition as of June 30, 2016.

BDO shares closed at P114 each on Monday, February 6, 50 centavos lower from the close of P114.50 on Friday, February 3. – Rappler.com