China Bank profit up 30% in H1

MANILA, Philippines - Earnings of China Banking Corp. jumped 30.3 percent in the first half on the back of the strong growth in its core and fee-based businesses.

China Bank president and CEO Ricardo Chua said the bank managed to book strong first half results amid the volatile global financial markets.

“We are encouraged by the strong positive results in the first semester despite the challenging market conditions,” Chua said.

The bank recorded a net income of P3.27 billion from January to June, P760 million higher than the P2.51 billion recorded in the same period last year.

“Our core business drivers are showing healthy growth, our various initiatives are gaining traction, and China Bank Savings is well on its way to make a significant contribution to group profitability this year,” Chua said.

This translated to a higher return on equity of 10.74 percent from 8.67 percent and a return on assets of 1.22 percent from 1.06 percent.

Net revenues before operating expenses grew 15 percent to P10.85 billion, with net interest revenues climbing seven percent to P7.95 billion.

The bank’s loan book expanded 12 percent to P324.03 billion in the first half while total deposits grew 18 percent to P239.04 billion.

Non-interest revenues surged 42 percent to P2.9 billion as trading gains jumped 187.2 percent to P993.52 million from P345.91 million. Service charges, fees and commissions went up 16 percent.

China Bank continued its network expansion and embarked on new product initiatives resulting in an 11 percent rise in total operating expenses to P6.66 billion in end June.

Together with its thrift bank arm China Bank Savings, China Bank has a network of over 500 branches nationwide after opening seven branches in the first half.

The bank’s total assets increased 16 percent to P555.55 billion. Its total capital funds rose 6.23 percent to P62.47 billion.