Security Bank loan portfolio grows 25.7 percent

MANILA, Philippines -  Security Bank Corp. recently disclosed its first quarter financial results with a net income attributable to equity holders of P1.01 billion, a 8.5-percent increase over the figure reported for the first quarter of 2010. The performance equates to an annualized return on equity (ROE) of 16.1 percent.

The bank’s asset base stood at P183.5 billion, a P39.9 billion or 27.8 percent growth from end of March 2010. A 25.7 percent or P16.8- billion increase in loans was the primary driver behind the significant increase in the bank’s resources.  

Deposits, meanwhile, stood at P106.1 billion up 9.4 percent from the P96.9 billion recorded a year earlier. With the exceptional profitability reported for 2010 and the profit performance recorded for the first quarter, the bank’s capital level stood at P26.4 billion, a 34.4-percent increase over the same period in 2010.

With the robust growth in the bank’s lending portfolio, net interest income stood at P1.6 billion, a P141.7 million or 9.5-percent increase over the first quarter of 2010. Non-interest income stood at P452 million, while lower than that reported for the first quarter of 2010 due to the absence of opportunities for securities trading gains present the year before; nonetheless reflected noteworthy gains in customer driven revenues.

In particular, service charges, fees and commissions, which stood at P226.8 million for the period, reflected a 18.7-percent growth over the prior year. In addition, the bank sustained its performance in servicing customer driven foreign exchange flows with gains recorded for the period of P470.6 million, up by P181.8 million or 62.9 percent.

Operating expenses, excluding provision for credit and impairment losses, amounted to P977.8 million, seven percent lower than the comparable period in 2010 as the bank reported a decline in retirement and advertising expenses. As a consequence of the moderated expenses and the revenue performance, the bank continued to report a cost to income ratio of 47 percent.

Security Bank’s non-performing loans ratio of 1.1 percent for the period remains among the best in the industry with related NPL cover at 310 percent. The bank continues to report a fundamentally strong capital base with its capital adequacy ratio at 15.5 percent for the period.