MANILA, Philippines - Philippine Savings Bank (PSBank), the thrift bank of the Metrobank Group, posted record earnings of P2.3 billion in 2012 from P2 billion in 2011 due to the outstanding growth in its loan portfolio and gains in its investment portfolio.
The 14.1-percent income growth was also driven by P5.7 billion in net interest income and P3.7 billion in other operating income.
In a statement, PSBank said its return-on-equity (ROE) rose to 17.6 percent. ROE measures a entity’s profitability by revealing how much profit it generates with the money shareholders have invested.
Operating expenses were moderate, rising by only 5.1 percent even with the bank’s continued investments in branches and ATMs.
The bank opened 20 additional branches last year, bringing its branch network to 220.
PSBank also further expanded its ATM network and now has 532 onsite and offsite ATMs all over the country.
As of end-December 2012, the bank’s ATM network is the sixth largest among Philippine banks while its branch network is now the ninth largest.
Total loans grew 21.4 percent to P73.5 billion as it registered record gains for its top loan products on account of increased consumer confidence and sustained economic growth.
Auto loans rose 24.3 percentt compared to the previous year, while mortgage loans expanded 19 percent.
PSBank president Pascual Garcia III said the growth in the Philippine economy last year boosted their income performance.
“2012 was a banner year for PSBank. Our nation’s 6.6 percent economic growth coupled by our improved market penetration contributed to exceptional increases in loan releases especially for the consumer segment. We saw a 36 percent increase in consumer loan releases driven by both the auto and mortgage businesses†Garcia said.
In the first quarter of 2012, the bank issued P3 billion worth of Tier 2 bonds that were rated PRS Aaa by the Philippine Ratings Corp.
This allowed PSBank to improve its capital adequacy ratio (CAR) to 17.14 percent. CAR is a measure of a bank’s capital capability to absorb risks.