BPI net income jumps to 36% in first quarter

MANILA, Philippines – Investment grade-rated Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) registered P4.9 billion ($109.3 million) in net income in the first quarter of 2015, up 36% from the same period last year.

The result reflected an annualized return on equity of 13.8%. BPI also achieved 1.5% return on assets.

“We begin the year with strong momentum, and are focused on growing our core lending and fee businesses while maintaining cost efficiency,” said Cezar Consing, BPI’s president and chief executive officer.

Both net interest income and non-interest income showed marked improvements against the same period last year.

Net interest income for the period was P9.43 billion ($210.4 million), up 15% year-on-year due to a 15% expansion in average asset base and a slight improvement in spreads.

Non-interest income was P5.13 billion ($114.4 million), up 23% year-on-year, mainly due to notable increases in income attributable to the bank’s insurance business, fees and commissions, and securities trading.

Increase in operating expenses was maintained at 8.8%, driven by manpower related and regulatory costs, among others.

The BPI’s cost-to-income ratio improved to 50.3% from last year’s 54.4%.

The bank’s core lending and deposit businesses sustained strong growth. Net loans stood at P730 billion ($16.2 billion), up 14% year-on-year as lending to corporates increased by 13% and retail loans grew by 16%.

Total deposits was P1.15 trillion ($33.8 billion), a 17% increase year-on-year.

Despite the growth in average loan balances year-on-year, BPI was able to maintain its asset quality.

Gross 90-day non-performing loan ratio was 1.7%, down from 1.89% in same period last year, while reserve cover improved by 111.7%.

BPI ended the first quarter with P145.6 billion in capital ($3.24 billion), after settlement on March 17 of dividends of P3.5 billion ($78.1 million) for the second half of 2014.

Consolidated CET 1 Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) was 14.81% while total CAR was 15.67%. – Rappler.com

US$1 = P 44.81