BPI sees 20% rise in income this year

The Bank of the Philippine Islands expects net income to grow or "do better than" 20 percent this year, bank president Xavier Loinaz said after yesterday’s annual stockholders meeting.

The country’s second largest commercial bank on a consolidated basis registered a net income of P3.05 billion last year, 34.6 percent lower than the P4.67-billion income of 1999.

Loinaz said net income for the first three months of this year was "substantially higher" than last year’s first quarter but did not give details.

He said the first quarter performance is a "good reflection for the rest of the year. We are coming in with a fairly good book and adequate reserves. We are not pre-occupied with building up reserves as we had in the past."

Loinaz was referring to one-time charges of about P2 billion last year when the bank completed its merger with Far East Bank and Trust Co. and Ayala Insurance Holdings Corp.

Fuelling this year’s growth are the credit card business and the corporate sector. Loinaz added the bank does not plan any new investments "for now."

Loan-loss reserves for 2001 is projected at between P1 billion and P1.5 billion, significantly lower than the P3.62 billion set aside last year. The reserves ratio is roughly 60 percent, much better than the industry average of 45 percent.

BPI’s non-performing loans, however, remained steady at 12 percent of total portfolio, slightly lower than the industry average of 15 percent. "I think much of it has to be written off," he said.

Earlier, the stockholders elected two new directors to the board. These are Globe Telecom GMRC president and chief executive officer Gerardo Ablaza, Jr. and Ayala Corp. treasurer Manuel Bengzon, who replaced Executive Secretary Renato de Villa and former Finance Undersecretary Romeo Bernardo.

Reelected to the 15-man board were Ayala Corp. chairman Jaime Zobel de Ayala; Ayala Corp. president and chief executive officer Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala II; Ayala Land Inc. chairman Fernando Zobel de Ayala; Loinaz; and former FEBTC president Octavio Espiritu.

Also reelected were Ayala nominees Ariston Estrada, Jr., Rebecca Fernando and Mercedita Nolledo; Sakura Bank nominees Takashi Fujishima, Haruo Kawamoto and Ong Siew Mooi; and Development Bank of Singapore nominees Jackson Peter Tai and Frank Kwong Shing Wong.