Commercial banks look to consumer market for growth

sBanks continue to look at the consumer lending market for growth in the same manner that the National Economy looks to private and personal consumption to fuel the country’s sputtering economy.

The three major contributors to the impressive 6.2-percent growth rate in the first nine months of 2004 are services, industry, and agriculture.

The services sector accounts for 47.3 percent of GDP, industry 34.7 percent, and agriculture 18 percent. "The economy so far has been consumption driven," government economic managers said.

This was reflected in the growth in consumer lending for Chinatrust (Philippines) Commercial Bank Corp.

Personal lending grew by over 200 percent. "The consumer lending market continued to be the bank’s major fuel for growth, as it has been the fuel for growth for the country’s GDP," Chinatrust president Joey Bermudez said.

Unofficial reports indicate that consumer loans grew to P2 billion in the first 10 months of the year, or roughly 200 percent better than the same period last year.

Higher credit demand from the consumer sector will remain the main driver for growth also next year versus an anemic corporate lending market.

The pace of foreign direct investments will remain languid, and threatened further by the prospects of a credit rating downgrade by the international rating community.

Due to the healthy growth in consumer finance, Bermudez said Chinatrust will focus its operations for the coming year on this sector. "It will be our flagship business," Bermudez said.

The foreign bank started the year aggressive in the property lending market but shifted timely to the personal lending market. The personal lending market is a consumer-driven market which in turns fuels economic growth.

Funds generated from the property sector served as reserves for the personal financing market for the bank.

Last year, Chinatrust Phils. registered a 22-percent growth in net income to P503 million from P410.9 million in 2002. Return on equity (ROE) and return on assets (ROA) increased 14.10 percent and 2.79 percent, respectively.

Deposit level stood at P12.8 billion or 19 percent higher than the previous year.

Interest revenues were kept healthy through aggressive customer acquisition efforts, aimed specifically towards the Taiwanese, middle market, Filipino-Chinese and consumer market segments.