EPCIBank seen to exceed income target

Equitable PCI Bank expects its net income to grow by about 20 percent this year on the back of the continued improvement in the bank’s consumer lending programs.

"We expect consumer lending to continue to key our growth this year," Equitable PCI president and CEO Rene Buenaventura said, adding that other key drivers would include treasury gains, fee-based incomes and low-cost deposits.

The bank had originally targeted its 2003 income at between P300 million to P500 million, but officials said the bank’s yearend figures could be better-than-expected.

Buenaventura said that they expect last year’s net earnings to exceed targets by almost 20 percent, or within the range of P360 million to P600 million.

That means net income growth this year could reach as high as P720 million, Buenaventura said.

The bank will again review this year’s strategies after the results of the May national elections.

During the formal launching of the Philam Equitable Life Assurance Co. (PELAC), Buenaventura said in the long term earnings from PELAC would contribute some 15 percent of the bank’s total earnings.

"But right now, it is too early to tell as operations of PELAC only started last December," he pointed out.

PELAC is a joint venture between the Philippine American Life and General Insurance Co. (Philamlife) and Equitable PCI Bank, the third largest commercial bank. In the last quarter of 2003, the Insurance Commission (IC) issued a life insurance license to PELAC, making it the newest member of the country’s life insurance industry.