UCPB consolidated income up 34% to P883M in Q1

CEBU, Philippines - Setting up the pace for its bullish performance outlook in the next few years, the United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB) reported a 34 percent consolidated income growth for the first quarter of 2012 to P883.7 million.

The universal bank attributed its robust performance to the strong trading gains and high interest income posted by its business units.

“Businesses normally slow down during this period but we still managed to sustain our growth in 2011. Our strong first quarter performance bodes well for the future of the bank.” UCPB president and CEO Jeronimo Kilayko said.

UCPB took advantage of the volatile fixed income market thereby expanding its trading gains by more than three hundred folds during the first three months of the year to P486.9 million from P111.2 million in the same period last year.

Meanwhile, interest income from loans rose by 15 percent as the bank expanded its loan portfolio to P73.6 billion by end of March 2012 from P62.1 billion as of March 2011.

Consumer loans from the parent company went up at a faster rate primarily due to the bank’s tie-ups with major real estate developers. This provided the bank access to more clients who would like to borrow money for their dream house.

Funding for these loans came from the inexpensive checking and savings accounts (CASA) which amounted to P102.2 billion as of end of March 2012 from P98 billion a year ago.          

CASA comprised 63 percent of the total deposits which rose by nine percent to P162 billion in the first quarter versus P148 billion in 2011.

And as UCPB’s business grew, management successfully kept the growth of its operating expense at a minimum.

UCPB turned around its finances in 2009 when it posted a profit of P1.66 billion from a loss of P2.71 billion the previous year.

Profits further grew to P2.45 billion in 2010 and P3.05 billion last year which was a robust 25 percent increase from 2010.

According to Kilayko, UCPB aims to achieve a P4 billion net income for 2012 by creating more technology-driven products while expanding its loan portfolio, remittance business, fee income and branch network to drive revenue growth.  (FREEMAN)