UCPB net profit up 34% in Q1

MANILA, Philippines - Coming on the heels of the formal extension of its corporate life as granted by its shareholders recently, UCPB announced a robust performance for the first quarter of 2012 as its consolidated net income grew by 34 percent to P883.7 million from a year ago attributing it to the strong trading gains and high interest income posted by its business units.

“Businesses normally slow down during this period but we still managed to sustain our growth in 2011. Our strong first quarter performance bodes well for the future of the bank,” UCPB president and CEO Jeronimo Kilayko said.

UCPB took advantage of the volatile fixed income market thereby expanding its trading gains by more than three hundred folds during the first three months of the year to P486.9 million from P111.2 million in the same period last year.

Meanwhile, interest income from loans rose by 15 percent as the bank expanded its loan portfolio to P73.6 million by end of March 2012 from P62.1 as of March 2011.

Consumer loans from the parent company went up at a faster rate primarily due to the bank’s tie-ups with major real estate developers. This provided the bank access to more clients who would like to borrow money for their dream house.

Funding for these loans came from the inexpensive checking and savings accounts (CASA) which amounted to P102.2 million as of end of March 2012 from P98 million a year ago.

CASA comprised 63 percent of the total deposits which rose by nine percent to P162 million in the first quarter versus P148 million in 2010.

And as UCPB’s business grew, management successfully kept the growth of its operating expense at a minimum.

By end of the first quarter, UCPB’s total assets stood at P204 million, 13 percent higher than a year ago while total capital increased by 23 percent to P17.9 million.

UCPB’s first quarter feat comes on the heels of its robust income growth in 2011 which reached P3.05 billion or 25 percent higher than the previous year.

For 2012, UCPB is setting its sights on a P3.5 to P4 billion in net income.