The surge in earnings, backed by strong core banking operations, pushed its return on equity to 15.6 percent and return on assets to 1.6 percent.
Revenues climbed 21 percent to P65.5 billion, driven by a 19 percent jump in net interest income to P63.5 billion, as the bank expanded its asset base and improved its net interest margin to 4.5 percent.
Management’s view
“We continue to remain focused on executing our strategies to deliver quality service to our customers and stellar financial results to all our stakeholders,” said Chinabank president and CEO Romeo D. Uyan Jr.
“Our ongoing business transformation as well as solid fundamentals will allow us to sustain our growth in the coming years,” he added.
Big picture
The strong results cap a stellar year for the country’s No. 4 private lender.
Following a surge in activity and valuation, the bank was recently reinstated in the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange Index after 14 years.
Cautious stance on credit risk
Despite increasing investments in manpower and technology, operating expenses grew only 14 percent to P30.7 billion, allowing Chinabank to improve its cost-to-income ratio to 47 percent.
The bank also took a more cautious stance on credit risks, raising provisions to P3.3 billion while still lowering its non-performing loan ratio to 1.6 percent.
Loans grew
Total assets climbed 11 percent to P1.6 trillion, reinforcing Chinabank’s position as the fourth-largest private universal bank in the Philippines.
With deposits rising 12 percent to P1.3 trillion and total loans up 18 percent to P933 billion, the bank maintained a strong balance sheet.
