Landbank income rises 20% in 2019

MANILA, Philippines — The net income of state-run Land Bank of the Philippines rose by 20 percent in 2019 due to the bank’s efforts to increase its lending support to priority sectors.

In a statement, Landbank president and chief executive officer Cecilia Borromeo said the bank booked a total net income of P18.51 billion in 2019, 19.57 percent higher than P15.48 billion in the previous year.

This translated to a return on equity of 13.19 percent, which is above the industry average of 10.38 percent as of September 2019.

“The robust growth in developmental loan portfolio, coupled with the better than projected yields of the bank’s loan and investment portfolios fueled the double digit growth in net income,” Borromeo said in a text message.

“The bank also successfully managed the average cost of funds,” she said.

Borromeo said 2019 also turned out to be a banner year for Landbank, as it officially became a P2 trillion bank in terms of assets.

Last year, the bank’s assets reached P2.03 trillion, eight percent up from P1.87 trillion in 2018, and a new record for the state-owned universal bank.

Landbank said this growth in assets was driven by an expansion in its deposit base, which stood at P1.78 trillion as of end-2019 or eight percent higher than the 2018 level of P1.65 trillion.

Borromeo said this would enable Landbank to further increase its support to priority sectors, especially the agriculture industry.

“Reaching this new milestone in assets, including consistent growth in all financial fronts, has made 2019 a banner year for Landbank,” Borromeo said.

“More importantly, we are banking on this performance to enable us to create a bigger impact in helping the agriculture sector grow this year. We look to build on this momentum to intensify and further expand support to our priority sectors, our small farmers and fishers in the countryside,” she added.