East West Bank eyes 300 branches in 3 years

MANILA, Philippines - East West Banking Corp. is looking to grow its branch network to 300 within three years, from 117 at the end of June this year.

“We hope to hit 140 by the end of the year,” Antonio C. Moncupa Jr., EastWest Bank president and chief executive officer, said during a press briefing yesterday.

Last month, the commercial bank of the Filinvest Group acquired Green Bank of Caraga, one of the largest rural banks in the country with 46 branches.

Moncupa admitted that their branch expansion will require a large capital expenditure outlay but stressed that the Filinvest Group is prepared to infuse additional capital as well as tap the capital markets.

“What we are looking at, likewise, is acquiring assets,” the bank executive said.

Meanwhile, the bank will open its ownership structure or go public by the first semester of 2012.

Last year, EastWest Bank was granted an expanded commercial bank or universal bank license by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). However, the bank must first sell at least 60-percent of its common shares within 2011 or list its common shares in the country’s bourse by 2013.

“Its really a matter of timing,” Moncupa said, referring to the volatile conditions of the European and US economies. “They are still the largest economies and the Philippines still reacts to developments of the developed world. The challenges are external.”

EastWest Bank is optimistic it would still hit its minimum net income target of P1.8 billion for the whole of 2011.

Net income in 2010 grew 191.3 percent to P1.81 billion, or over P800 million more than its original target of P1 billion. In 2009, net earnings stood at P621.7 million.

In the first semester of 2011, net earnings rose to P884 million from P858 million in the first six months of 2010.