Car loans up 3.3% in June

Automobile loans reached P79.1 billion in June, rising by 3.3 percent despite the dramatic surge in oil prices that has forced consumers out of the car market.

But the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said that as of end-June 2008, the automobile loans (ALs) of universal/commercial banks (U/KBs) and thrift banks (TBs), inclusive of non-bank subsidiaries remained strong.

However, the proportion of ALs to total loan portfolio (TLP), net of interbank loans went down to 3.4 percent from the previous quarter’s 3.6-percent ratio.

The report did not present comparative year-on-year figures due to the recent change in financial reporting.

The BSP explained that beginning Financial Reporting Package (FRP) report as of end-March 2008, ALs are now defined as ALs to individuals for consumption purposes as against ALs granted to individuals and corporate accounts in prior periods.

TBs (inclusive of TB subsidiaries of U/KBs) took the lion’s share of the total ALs at 58.1 percent. U/KBs held 40.4 percent while subsidiary NBFIs accounted for the remaining 1.5 percent.

The non-performing ALs to total ALs ratio settled at 5.1 percent, favorably down from last quarter’s 5.6 percent.

The improvement in the ratio from last quarter resulted from the 5.2-percent drop in non-performing ALs to P4 billion and the overall growth in total ALs.

Prior to end-March 2008, computation of delinquency was past due plus items in Litigation. Effective end-March 2008, computation of delinquency is past due and already non-performing plus items in litigation based on the new FRP.

Meanwhile, the non-performing ALs to total non-performing loans (NPL) ratio eased to three percent from last quarter’s 3.2 percent. On the other hand, the non-performing ALs to TLP ratio was maintained at 0.2 percent.

In June, the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines reported that the industry sold 61,654 cars and trucks in the first half of the year, up 13.6 percent from the same period last year.

The organization said buyers are also shifting to fuel-efficient vehicles amid escalating petroleum prices.