BPI sees steady growth in corporate banking

MANILA, Philippines - Ayala-owned Bank of Philippine Islands (BPI) expects a steady growth in its corporate banking business for the rest of the year, a ranking company official said.

BPI executive vice president and corporate banking group head Alfonso Salcedo Jr. said they have exceeded their income target for the first three months of 2013.

“On our corporate banking (income), we are more than happy. We are fine. We are doing okay. For the first quarter, we have exceeded our target by 20 percent. But of course, it’s still too early. We have a long way to go. This is just one quarter but so far so good,” Salcedo said.

He said the bank’s performance has been boosted by the continuing efforts to keep its existing clients and lure new customers.

According to Salcedo, their clients, some of them from Japan, have been expanding their businesses in the Philippines. “We help them with their letters of credit, their cash management and some have loans,” he said.

Late last year, BPI took note of a growing number of Japanese manufacturers operating in China which have decided to relocate or plan to relocate to the Philippines.

Salcedo in an earlier interview said the bank’s Japanese corporate accounts were the biggest foreign borrowers, accounting for more than P10 billion of the bank’s corporate loan portfolio of P350 billion in 2012. â€œIt is growing by an average 20 percent yearly,” he said.

He said BPI’s partnership with Japanese banks is slowly bearing fruits.

“We have some tie ups with some Japanese banks. They gave us a list of companies more than two dozens… no names… they described the companies they want to buy, or their clients in Japan want to buy or partner with,” he said.

The BPI executive also noted the growth in BPI’s small-medium enterprise (SME) business.

He said they are seeing much growth potential in Mindanao and in some parts of Luzon, particularly in the northern part.

“Mindanao (SME) continues to grow fast and for me, Northern Luzon has a lot of potential,” he said.

About 30 percent of BPI’s corporate banking portfolio is concentrated on SMEs.