It’s business as usual for UCPB

MANILA, Philippines - United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB) will continue with its normal operations even after the Supreme Court has decided that the bank is even owned by the government.

“It’s business as usual for the bank,” UCPB senior vice president Norman Martin Reyes said. “I don’t think our operations will be affected as we have been administered by the government.”

The SC recently ruled with finality that the shares of business tycoon Eduardo Cojuangco Jr. in UCPB are government-owned.

The SC sustained the decision of the Sandiganbayan that Cojuangco’s UCPB shares were part of assets illegally acquired from coconut levy funds during the Marcos administration.

It was reported that the Aquino administration is eyeing to sell more than 70 percent of the contested shares currently lodged at the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG).

It would be noted that the government’s share in UCPB, including those of the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC), is “higher” than 70 percent.

The PDIC has infused a total of P12 billion in UCPB, which was placed under rehabilitation in 2009.

The amount represented the value raised through capital notes, which are convertible to preferred shares should the bank fail to settle them in 10 years.

UCPB posted a net income of P3.73 billion in 2012, up 22 percent from the previous year’s P3.06 billion, as the bank boosted its loan portfolio as well as its trading and securities earnings by triple digits.

Total loans went up 24 percent to P87.72 billion from P70.52 billion in the same period last year of which the consumer portfolio grew at a rapid pace of 33 percent.  Corporate accounts make up 45 percent of the loan portfolio.

At present, the bank has 188 branches and over 200 ATMs network.

UCPB is also a key player in countryside development. Its UCPB-CIIF Finance and Development Corp. and UCPB-CIIF Foundation implement various credit programs and community-building activities in 62 of the country’s 64 coconut-producing provinces aimed at uplifting the quality of life of people living in these communities.