PSBank now among 10 strongest in Philippines

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine Savings Bank (PSBank), the thrift bank arm of the Metrobank Group, has emerged as the only savings bank in the Asian Banker’s latest list of the Philippines’ top 10 strongest banks by balance sheet. It is the fifth consecutive years that the bank has received the award.

It joins the league of other universal and commercial banks in the country.

The thrift bank ranked as the country’s eight strongest bank by balance sheet, reflecting its strong sales and deposit-taking initiatives, prudent asset management, and above average capital adequacy.

In a press statement, PSBank president Vicente R. Cuna Jr. said that the award shows the bank is on the right track in executing a strategy of sustainable balance sheet growth and profitability while keeping non-performing loans in check.

The Asian Banker500 list is an annual study that ranks banks in the Asia-Pacific region across six parameters – scale, balance sheet growth, risk profile, profitability, asset quality, and liquidity. All data were culled from banks’ annual reports, central bank data, and industry association reports.

As of September 2015, PSBank booked a net income of P1.73 billion propelled by the expansion of its core businesses.

Total resources rose by 5.5 percent to P159.5 billion.

Even with the growth in its loan business, PSBank’s net non-performing loans ratio was kept low at 1.1%.

Its capital adequacy ratio (CAR) emerged strong at 18.2 percent, well above the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ 10-percent minimum requirement. Its Tier 1 capital ratio stood at 12.5 percent, also surpassing the regulator’s preferred 7.5-percent.

PSBank is the second strongest thrift bank with a branch network 247 branches and 610 automated teller machines (ATM) nationwide.