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MANILA, Philippines – BDO Unibank, the banking arm of Henry Sy, the country’s richest, was named the top bank by Singapore-based FinanceAsia and, recently, by London-based The Banker.
On Thursday evening, September 12, FinanceAsia magazine, which caters to the elite financial community, awarded BDO as the “Best Asian Bank” for 2013.
“This breaks a winning streak for Malaysia’s Public Bank, which has won the award for the past 3 years. It represents the first time FinanceAsia has given this award to a Philippine Bank, reflecting the rise in fortunes of the country, notably its improved credit rating,” the magazine said.
It was referring to the investment grade rating upgrades by Fitch and Standard & Poors. Moody’s is expected to follow soon.
FinanceAsia said BDO “performed especially well” in profitability and loans-to-asset ratios, two of the criteria for choosing the best bank.
BDO bested the other shortlisted banks: ICBC (China), HDFC (India), Bank Central Asia (Indonesia), Shinhan Financial (Korea), Public Bank (Malaysia), DBS (Singapore), CTBC (Taiwan) and Siam Commercial Bank (Thailand).
BDO is the Philippines’ biggest bank.
The Banker
In early September, The Banker also placed BDO as the highest ranking Philippine bank in its list of world’s top 1,000 banks.
BDO improved 145 notches in 2013, placing 251st from its 396th rank in 2012, the magazine said.
It cited the Sy-led bank’s “enhanced overall performance, particularly in terms of tier 1 capital, assets and profitability.”
BDO reported 143% surge to P14.1 billion in its net income from January to June, largely due to its fee-based businesses.
READ: BDO profits soar 143% in Jan-June
Total loans grew 12% to P806.6 billion, while capital adequacy ratio at end-June stood at a healthy 18.3%.
BDO, formerly called “Banco de Oro,” bested the following local rivals:
- Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. (Metrobank), 333rd place
- Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), 386th
- Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC), 642nd
- Security Bank, 655th
- China Bank, 663rd
- Union Bank, 702nd
- Philippine National Bank, 765th
- Philtrust Bank, 986th
- East West Bank, 992nd
– Rappler.com
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