Major banks' profits up 43 pct in first 9 months

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - Profits of major banks in the country soared 43 percent in the first nine months of this year, the country's central bank Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) announced Friday.

The country's 36 major banks obtained combined profits of P114.39 billion ($2.65 billion) at the end of the third quarter, higher than the P80.11 billion ($1.85 billion) in the same period in 2012.

The bank attributed the higher profits to the growth in both interest and non-interest income.

Net interest income, reached P162.05 billion ($3.74 billion), an increase of 8.5 percent year-on-year.

The modest growth in interest income was complemented by non- interest income, which refers to revenue from fee-based services and other revenue streams. Major banks' non-interest income reached P129.12 billion ($2.98 billion), up 33 percent from last year.

The significant increase in profits for the country's banks came amid thinner margins for the year due to the availability of excess liquidity in the economy and low government treasury yields, which banks use to price their loans to the public, the bank said.