BPI income up 24% end September

MANILA, Philippines - The Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) has reported a net income of P9.1 billion in the first nine months of 2010, 24 percent higher than the P7.3 billion recorded in the same period in 2009.

In 2009, net earnings were placed at P8.5 billion or greater by 32.8 percent from P6.4 billion in 2008. Record net income was realized in 2007 at P10 billion.

Return on equity was 17.5 pecrent and return on assets at 1.7 percent.

Net interest income grew by eight percent while non-interest income increased by 22 percent on gains from securities trading, fees and commissions, and foreign exchange transactions.

BPI set aside P2.5 billion in impairment losses, P427 million up from last year’s P2.1 billion. Net 30-day NPL ratio though improved to 2.6 percent with a reserve cover of 115.9 percent.

Net income for the third quarter alone was P3.5 billion, a 25-percent improvement over the previous quarter’s performance, and 75 percent better than the P2 billion registered in the same period last year.

Total resources meanwhile went up by 15 percent to P764 billion on a year on year basis, while deposits reached P613 billion for a 19 -percent growth rate.

With assets held in trust at P458 billion, the bank now manages total funds amounting to nearly P1.1 trillion. Net loans was P331 billion, 13.7 percent higher as all segments continued to post improvements with the highest growth rates from middle market lending/SMEs (over 16 percent) and consumer loans (up 16 percent).

BPI has a market capitalization of P194 billion as of end of September, still the largest among local banks. Its Basel II capital adequacy ratio (CAR) was at 17 percent, while Tier 1 CAR was at 15.3 percent.