MANILA, Aug. 7— Gains from its core business lifted Metropolitan Bank & Trust Company’s (Metrobank) net income in the first half of 2017 by 5 percent to PHP9.5 billion.
In a disclosure with the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) Monday, the bank, which posted a record-high Php2 trillion total assets as of end-June this year, said loans and low-cost deposits are the main factors for the rise in its income.
Net loans and receivables went up 21 percent year-on-year to PHP1.1 trillion, with commercial loans leading the segment through a 24 percent rise followed by the 17 percent uptick of consumer loans.
Amid the increase in loans, non-performing loans (NPL) ratio remain low at 0.9 percent and NPL coverage ratio is still strong at 109 percent.
The increase in loans resulted to the 3.7 percent improvement of net interest margin and the 16 percent jump of net interest income to Php29.6 billion, which accounts for 73 percent of total operating income.
Low-cost current account and savings account (CASA) deposits grew by 15 percent during the same period, faster than the 10 percent industry average, and now has a share of about 61 percent of the bank’s PHP1.5 trillion deposit base.
Non-interest income totaled to PHP11.1 billion in the first six months this year, with service fees and commissions and income from trust operations amounting to PHP5.9 billion, net trading and foreign exchange gains, PHP2.5 billion; and miscellaneous income, PHP2.7 billion.
Operating expenses during the period rose by nine percent to PHP23.8 billion.
Metrobank Senior Vice President Jette Gamboa, in a statement, said performance in recent quarters “demonstrate our ability to deliver quality earnings from our core banking business.”
“We are staying the course and executing in line with our strategic goals. Our deliberate effort to focus on our customers and continuous improvement in service delivery has positioned us to generate stable recurring income despite the volatility in the financial markets” he said.
“Metrobank is very optimistic about the growth prospects of the economy. Our strong capital position and healthy balance sheet allow us to continuously support the business needs of our customers,” he added.