Standard Chartered Phils eyes 400% profit growth

Standard Chartered Bank Philippines (SCBP) is projecting a profit jump of over 400 percent this year as it refocuses its priorities while implementing critical cost containment measures.

Unofficial figures show that last year, the bank’s revenues grew by only 11 percent compared to the previous year.

Loan portfolio grew 16 percent last year compared to the three- percent growth registered by the industry while its non-performing loan (NPL) ratio improved further from 10.68 percent in 1999 to a single-digit ratio of 7.63 last year.

Last year, the bank’s deposit base grew 77 percent to P25 billion, from P14 billion in 1999.

In an interview with The STAR, SCBP chief executive officer Annemarie Durbin said they would zoom in on consumer and corporate banking while dropping some banking services which is far from their core businesses.

"We will acquire new customers while deepening relations with existing clients," Durbin said, adding that they have practically acquired a universal banking license, allowing for greater access to the debt market.

Durbin said they will focus more on multinationals and huge conglomerates while maintaining their institutional banking activities as more and more banks are getting involved in loan syndications.

SCBP is also looking at further expanding business with the public sector to include not only the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) but also other government agencies like the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), and the Bureau of Customs (BOC).

Durbin said SCBP, the oldest foreign bank in the Philippines, will not join the bandwagon of mergers and acquisitions. Rather, it is in the market for new portfolios, such as the credit card market.

SCBP's card base grew by over a hundred percent from a little over 50,000 to over 114,000 by the end of 2000. This allowed the bank to corner a market share of 3.60 percent at the start of the year compared to a mere 1.66 percent by end 1999.