Metrobank okays 2% cash bonus

Financial services giant Metropolitan Bank & Trust Corp. has approved the declaration of a two-percent cash dividend amounting to P722.91 million.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Metrobank said the cash dividends will be taken out of its total profits on hand which has a balance of P15.51 billion as of Oct. 31, 2007.

The cash dividend translates to P0.40 per share based on the par value of P20 each share.

Metrobank said the record date for those entitled to receive the cash dividends has yet to be set.

Metrobank posted a consolidated net profit of P5.31 billion in the nine months ending September this year, up 19.7 percent from P4.44 billion the previous level and nearly reaching its full-year net earnings of P5.53 billion in 2006.

Total gross income rose 8.6 percent to P27.54 billion, fueled by a 12.5 percent increase in net interest income to P15.92 billion and steady contribution of non-interest and fee-based income at P11.62 billion.

The aggressive campaign to capture low cost funds has resulted in a 12.7-percent drop in interest expense to P12.44 billion from P14.25 billion, while net interest margin inched up slightly to 3.9 percent from 3.8 percent last year.

Metrobank said it continues to grow its deposit business despite stiffer competition by focusing on its core markets and continuous improvement of its product and service offerings.

As of end-September 2007, Metrobank had consolidated assets of P673.84 billion, 6.1 percent higher than the year-ago’s P634.97 billion while its non-performing loan ratio dropped to 6.9 percent, from 9.8 percent, as a result of the sale of NPLs and write-off of loan accounts.

Metrobank reported a 6.3 percent expansion in net loans to P282.85 billion from P266.01 billion at the end of the same period last year. New corporate loans were granted to companies in the power and oil, telecommunications, shipping, and manufacturing sectors. On the retail side, consumer loans continued to post substantial increases as a result of the aggressive take up in both the MetroCar and MetroHomes portfolio.

Total deposits rose by P23.97 billion to P503.22 billion, and equity increased by P9.42 billion to P68.73 billion on account of the 173.6 million shares offering in October 2006 and the earnings contribution for the period in review.

Metrobank has a local branch network of over 540 branches and 35 international branches and offices in 21 countries.