iRemit earnings more than double in 2011

MANILA, Philippines - iRemit, the country’s largest Filipino-owned money transfer company, said its net earnings more than doubled to P136.06 million last year from P65.91 million in 2010 on increased remittance volume and new branch openings across the globe.

In a briefing yesterday, iRemit president Harris Jacildo said money sent home by overseas Filipino workers through the company rose 16 percent to $1.4 billion, accounting for seven percent of the total $20.1 billion OFW remittance inflows last year.

Jacildo said iRemit outpaced the seven percent growth rate reported by the central bank for remittances coursed through banks.

He said last year’s net earnings included a P26-million gain on the sale of assets overseas.

Revenues rose three percent to P787.86 million as the company was able to contain its costs. Expenses went up by only 2.6 percent to P447.32 million.

Jacildo said the strength of the OFW market has allowed the company and the Philippine economy to weather the effects of the economic turmoil in Europe and the political turbulence in the Middle East. 

Bansan C. Choa, chairman and chief executive officer of iRemit, said the company’s growth will continue this year as they aggressively venture into other remittance corridors such as Ireland, Germany, Netherlands, Indonesia and Myanmar.

There are 55,000 Filipinos living and working in Germany, 20,000 in Netherlands, and 13,000 in Ireland, Jacildo said.

Just last month, the firm opened branch offices in Tokyo and Nagoya in Japan where there are an estimated 290,000 Filipinos as of end-2010.

Choa said iRemit is currently setting up shop in Ireland to serve the Filipino community, targeted to be operational in the second quarter.

iRemit Global Remittance Ltd., a wholly-owned unit of iRemit, obtained authority from the Financial Services Authority of the United Kingdom to operate as a payment institution in the European Economic Area. Under the European Payment Services Directive, iRemit may avail of its passporting rights and carry on its business activities in other EEA states by establishing branches, engaging agents or providing cross-border services.