PNB profit hits P10.3 billion in 6 months

MANILA, Philippines — Philippine National Bank (PNB) hiked its income by 6.2 percent to P10.3 billion in the first half, from P9.7 billion a year ago, as the lender beefed up its core banking activities.

PNB president Florido Casuela said the bank’s performance has been on an upward trajectory since the beginning of the year, thanks to the sound execution of strategies and growth initiatives.

“The stronger focus and collaboration of our business groups have enabled us to serve a broader part of the commercial lending and consumer finance segments,” he said in a statement.

“We are happy to help these segments grow and it is made more meaningful by the fact that we just marked our 108th founding anniversary as a financial institution that helps Filipinos reach their aspirations.”

PNB’s net interest income rose by 11 percent in the first half, driven by a 17-percent increase in interest income earned from its loan portfolio and treasury assets amid high interest rates.

Likewise, the bank was able to mitigate the impact of higher interest expense on deposits by deploying these deposits to assets with better yields. This brought the lender’s net interest margin to 4.37 percent, an improvement from 4.14 percent a year ago.

On the other hand, PNB’s other operating income stood at P2.3 billion in the first half, lower than the P4.4 billion in the same period a year ago, mainly due to the substantial ROPA sale recognized by the lender last year.

Operating expenses also declined by four percent to P14.3 billion, attributable to the bank’s prudent spending despite continued business growth.

PNB also said it set aside additional credit provisions of P2.1 billion in the January to June period.

The bank’s total assets increased by four percent to P1.26 trillion as of end-June from the previous quarter due to higher loans and treasury assets.

PNB also augmented its total equity by six percent, translating to an improvement in the it’s capital adequacy ratio to 17 percent and common equity tier 1 ratio to 16.2 percent, both of which remained well above the minimum regulatory requirement of 10 percent.