ONB surpasses 2012 income target in Sept

MANILA, Philippines - One Network Bank (ONB) said it has surpassed its full-year net income target in just the first nine months of 2012.

Likewise, ONB’s capital base nears the P3-billion mark as it continues to lay the ground for its eventual application for a commercial or a universal bank license.

The Mindanao-based rural bank reported that at the end of September this year, its net earnings amounted to P478 million. The bank’s original income target for the whole of 2012 was set at P437 million.

On an annualized basis, the net income level translates to a 39-percent return on average private equity, and a four-percent return on average assets.

Earnings per share rose 27 percent to P3.47 compared to the P2.74 posted in the same period in 2011.

ONB president and chief executive officer Alex V. Buenaventura said that the revenue boost was driven by strong interest income derived from loans.

Loans yielded a substantial income of P944 million or an increment of 31 percent from last year.

Fee based income primarily obtained from service fees jumped to P540 million, or 68 percent higher than the P321 million reported in the previous year.

As of end September 2012, ONB generated a loan portfolio of P13.5 billion, or a 69-percent increase from the same period last year and has serviced a pool of 94,990 borrowers with an average loan size of P142,000.

“This loan expansion, essentially backed up by the bank’s objective of reinvesting all profits, has been further reinforced by the P14-billion surge in deposits, which is a 46-percent increase from the P9-billion level in September 2011,” Buenaventura said in a statement.

ONB’s depositor base has swollen to 585,000. 

Total resources ballooned to P18 billion or a 48-percent ascent from the same period last year.

 “As of end September, ONB augmented its capital base to P2.91 billion – a feat for a rural bank as the figure way exceeds minimum capital requisite for commercial banks,” the ONB chief executive added.

The third quarter of the year saw the successful launching of the ONB Business Online Banking as well as the ONB MicroBranch.

By next year, the largest rural bank will deploy a total of 2,000 ONB CashPoint POS (point-of-sale) terminals to merchants.

At present, ONB operates with 86 branches in Mindanao and in Makati, five microbranches located in Davao City barangays and a fleet of 131 onsite and offsite ATMs.

When the acquisition of RB San Enrique (Iloilo) is completed, 11 more branches will be added to its existing network. That includes the existing six branches and an additional five as part of the monetary authorities incentive package.

Last year, income reached P428 million, 37.62 percent better than the P311 million in 2010.

Capital then amounted to P2.5 billion while resources was valued at P15.7 billion.