Lower trading gains pull down BPI earnings to P8 B

MANILA, Philippines - Ayala banking unit Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) said its earnings fell 33 percent to P8.03 billion in the first six months of the year from P12 billion a year ago due mainly to lower trading gains.

BPI president and chief executive officer Cezar P. Consing, however,  said they remain positive towards the remaining half of the year with the upward trend in core earnings.

“Strong growth in (our) core business compensated for the poor trading gains,” Consing said in a press briefing yesterday in celebration of the bank’s 163rd anniversary.

“We expect core business to improve quarter on quarter as the asset base has grown,” he said. “But there are a lot of moving parts such as interest rates.”

In the second quarter, the bank’s P4.43-billion net income was already a 21 percent improvement from last year.

In the first semester, net interest income increased 15 percent as the bank sustained growth in its core business. Net loans closed at P697 billion, representing a 23-percent increase, while total deposits breached P1 trillion for the first time to end 30 percent higher at P1.072 trillion.

About 70 percent of BPI’s loan portfolio are corporate accounts while the remaining 30 percent represent consumer borrowings.

BPI executive vice president for corporate and investment banking group Alfonso L. Salcedo Jr. said the bank had a corporate client base of over 90,000.