Chinatrust posts 68% profit hike

Foreign bank Chinatrust (Philippines) Commercial Bank Corp. reported a net income of P410.9 million for 2002, up 68 percent from the P244.7 million recorded in 2001.

Total resources rose to P17 billion representing an eight-percent growth from the P15.66 billion in 2001. Chinatrust Phils. president Joey Bermudez said the increase in earnings was due to a 22-percent growth in the bank’s loan portfolio even as its bond portfolio fell by 16 percent.

"Our focus on the middle market, positive developments in our housing loans, a 51-percent growth in our net interest margins, and trading gains went up by 43 percent accounting for our better-than-expected earnings last year," Bermudez told reporters Tuesday night.

Net interest margins grew despite a substantial decline in interest rates, a reduction in the bond portfolio, and the belated growth of the loan portfolio. Total deposits stood at P10.77 billion at the end of the year or slightly better than the P10.69 billion the year before.

Loan portfolio rose from P8 billion in 2001 to P10 billion last year while its non-performing loans (NPLs) ratio dropped further to 4.5 percent from seven percent the year bofore.

"The bank is calculating its NPL ratio based on the new rules of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) which was given to banks that have fully complied with the BSP-required valuation reserves of bad loans," Bermudez said. Its bank cover for NPLs and non-performing assets (NPAs) stood at 79 percent and 41 percent, respectively.

Bank officials said that the modest growth in deposits resulted from a 43 percent growth in low-cost deposits and a seven-percent decline in high cost funds. It focused all its efforts on building a low-cost andmedium-cost deposit base in order to give itself a sustainable capacity to fund its customer loans. – Ted Torres