BPI net income hits P50.5 billion in first nine months as revenues increase

BANK of the Philippine Islands’ (BPI) net income rise increased by 5.2% in the first nine months of the year as its revenue growth outpaced the rise in its expenses.

The Ayala-led bank’s net profit rose to P50.5 billion in the nine months ended September from P48 billion in the same period last year, it said in a disclosure to the stock exchange on Thursday.

Its financial statement was unavailable as of press time.

BPI’s revenues grew by 13.2% year on year to P142.3 billion in the period.

This, as its net interest income jumped by 16.2% to P109.1 billion as the bank’s average earning asset base expanded by 8.7%.

This caused its net interest margin to improve by 30 basis points (bps) to 4.6%, BPI said.

The bank’s non-interest income likewise went up by 4.2% to P33.3 billion, driven by earnings from its fee-based businesses like credit cards and wealth management, as well as higher trading income.

Meanwhile, operating expenses increased by 10.3% year on year to P65.5 billion in the nine-month period due to higher business volume-related expenses and manpower and technology costs.

Despite this, its cost-to-income ratio improved by 118 bps to 46% on strong revenue generation.

BPI’s gross loans expanded by 13.3% year on year to P2.4 trillion at end-September, backed by strong growth in its non-institutional loans.

Its nonperforming loan (NPL) ratio stood at 2.3%.

It set aside P11.8 billion for provisioning for an NPL cover of 96.5%.

On the funding side, total deposits with the bank were up by 7.7% to P2.7 trillion. BPI said P1.6 trillion of the total were current account, savings accounts (CASA) deposits for a CASA ratio of 61%.

The bank’s loan-to-deposit ratio was at 90.3%.

BPI’s total assets reached P3.5 trillion at end-September, up by 9.3% year on year. Total equity stood at P474.8 billion, rising by 9.6%.

Common equity Tier 1 ratio was at 14.9%, while its capital adequacy ratio stood at 15.8%.

BPI shares jumped by P1.10 or 1.03% to close at P108 apiece on Thursday. — Aaron Michael C. Sy