BDO still biggest bank; Landbank overtakes BPI

MANILA, Philippines - BDO Unibank Inc. maintained its dominance in the banking industry in terms of total assets, capital, deposits, and loans in the first quarter, data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed.

The country’s largest bank owned by retail and banking magnate Henry Sy topped the list in terms of total assets with P1.99 trillion in end-March, followed by Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. of taipan George Ty with P1.37 trillion.

State-run Land Bank of the Philippines climbed to third spot with P1.28 trillion, dislodging Ayala-led Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) with P1.25 trillion, followed by Philippine National Bank of airline and tobacco magnate Lucio Tan with P647.06 billion, Security Bank with P516.59 billion, and government-owned Development Bank of the Philippines with P483.08 billion.

 Completing the top 10 list in terms of total assets are Sy-led China Banking Corp. with P470.32 billion, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. of tycoon Alfonso Yuchengco with P408.26 billion, and Aboitiz-owned Union Bank of the Philippines with P355.38 billion.

 Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III is set to recommend to President Duterte the scrapping of Executive Order 198 issued by former President Benigno Aquino III last Feb. 4 approving the merger of Landbank and DBP that would have created the country’s second largest bank with a combined asset base of P1.71 trillion.

 In terms of capital, BDO dominated the industry with P203.2 billion followed by Metrobank with P185.48 billion, BPI with P151.02 billion, PNB with P99.48 billion, and Landbank with P90.12 billion.

 RCBC ranked sixth with P59.79 billion while Security Bank which recently received P37 billion from The Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd (BTMU) for a 20 percent stake ranked seventh with P56.02 billion.

BDO also topped the list in terms of deposits with P1.64 trillion followed by Landbank’s P1.13 trillion, Metrobank’s P1.1 trillion, BPI’s P1.03 trillion, and PNB’s P479.96 billion.

 It also topped the list in terms of total loans and receivables with P1.35 trillion followed by Metrobank with P676 billion, BPI with P658.86 billion, Landbank with P453.82 billion, and PNB with P349.43 billion.

BDO expects to book a record profit of P26 billion this year on the back of robust net interest income primarily from loans and deposits. It sees an 18 percent increase in net interest income offsetting the projected three percent decline in non-interest income.

The bank’s earnings recorded a double-digit 10 percent growth last year to an all-time high of P25 billion from P22.83 billion in 2014.

 BDO is looking at putting up 50 to 100 branches this year to augment its existing network of more than 1,000 branches nationwide.