EastWest Bank profit rises 13%

MANILA, Philippines - Gotianun-led East West Banking Corp. posted a 13 percent increase in net income to P2.1 billion last year from P1.8 billion in 2012 on the back of growth in its core businesses, the bank said in a statement.

It’s total assets stood at P142.3 billion, up by 17.2 percent vs. 2012’s P121.4 billion.

Despite the challenging 2013 landscape, EastWest said it posted strong performance in its core businesses of loans and deposits.

Customer loans registered a 32.1 percent increase to P95.6 billion while consumer loans grew 29.4 percent to end the period at P48.9 billion. Credit cards, auto, mortgage and personal loans businesses also posted healthy double-digit growth from the previous year.

Corporate loans at the end of the year stood at P46.7 billion, up 35.1 percent from the previous year.

Total deposits stood at P111.2 billion, up 21.9 percent, driven by its expanded branch store network.

Low-cost deposits (CASA) grew 27.9 percent while high-cost deposits increased 14.4 percent. The bank improved its low-cost deposits to total deposits ratio that resulted in the decrease of interest expense by 15.3 percent year-on-year.

In 2013, EastWest opened a total of 55 new branch stores to end the year at 300. The consolidated branch store network of EastWest Unibank and EastWest Rural Bank currently stand at 369.

The bank registered its highest net interest margin of 8.4 percent, on account of its above industry loan growth that resulted in net interest income increase of 37.9 percent year-on-year.

Fees, commissions and other non-interest income grew 29.1 percent to P4.77 billion. Revenue from fees, excluding trading income, rose 39.2 percent to P3.1 billion.

Total expenses for the period was 39.8 percent higher at P10.9 billion as it continued to expand its branch store network and continue to gain market share in consumer loans for the year.

The bank’s capital adequacy ratio (CAR) and Tier 1 ratio stood at 17 percent and 13.8 percent, respectively as of year-end 2013.

EastWest chief finance officer said Rene De Borja Jr. said the year 2013 proved to be “a challenging one for the banking industry in general because of the ultra low-interest rate environment.”

“Other banks turned their focus on traditional income sources, which tightened competition. In spite of this, we are pleased with our core businesses growth as well as our overall financial results.  Our branch store expansion is on track and we are set to open more branch stores this year,” he said.

“The cost of expansion will continue to impact on our short term results but we are confident on the long term benefits of our investments as we continue to execute our strategy and we will continue to ride on the momentum we have gained since we started our expansion program,” he added.

EastWest is a subsidiary of Filinvest Development Corp. (FDC), one of the largest and well established business conglomerates in the Philippines. FDC, established in 1955, is identified with the Gotianun family and aside from banking, its business interest include real estate, sugar, hospitality and tourism, and power generation.