BDO sets up representative office in Singapore

MANILA, Philippines – The BDO Unibank, Inc. (BDO) set up a representative office in Singapore to further establish relationships with companies in one of Asia’s richest economies.

In a statement released on Wednesday, January 2, BDO said that the representative office, which is located at One Raffles Place in Singapore, is expected to promote the bank in the country’s financial community.

It aims to serve as a bridge for companies there that are interested in the Philippine market, and for companies here that are looking to invest in Singapore.

Growth

BDO also announced that it gained an unaudited net income of P10.5 billion for the first 9 months of 2012, 38% higher compared to the P7.6 billion it earned during the same period in 2011.

The bank sustained growth in its core lending and deposit-taking businesses, and recurring fee-based service income.

Gross customer loans expanded to P724 billion and total deposits increased to P860 billion, both resulting in an improved net interest income of P26.8 billion.

Fee-based income increased to P10 billion as a result of the solid growth from the service businesses, while trading and foreign exchange gains increased by 50% to P7 billion.

Overall, total non-interest income went up by 23% to P18.9 billion. Operating expenses inched up to P29.7 billion, while P4.2 billion in provisions were set aside during the period. Gross non-performing loan (NPL) ratio is at 3.1%, while gross NPL coverage is at 124%.

BDO added that its capital base expanded to P152 billion, making it the largest-capitalized bank in the industry. This follows the successful $1 billion stock rights offer that was concluded in July 2012.

Also, the Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) and Tier 1 Capital ratio stays at 20.3%and 15.2%, both remaining above the regulatory minimum, as of end-September 2012.