BDO income grows to P17.6 B

MANILA, Philippines - BDO Unibank Inc. recorded a 5.4 percent rise in profits in the first nine months amid the challenging operating environment brought about by uncertainties from the impending interest rate hike in the US and the economic slowdown in China.

The country’s largest bank in terms of total assets, loans, deposits and trust funds under management said its net income reached P17.6 billion from January to September, P900 million higher compared to P16.7 billion in the same period last year.

The bank attributed the increase to the solid expansion of its core businesses despite the challenging operating environment.

It added its lending operations picked up pace with a 19 percent increase in gross customer loans to P1.2 trillion on sustained growth across its target markets.

BDO’s total deposits rose 12 percent to P1.6 trillion on the back of the 16 percent hike in low-cost deposits. This translated to a 12 percent increase in net interest income to P41.8 billion from January to September.

The Sy-led bank completed the acquisition of One Network Bank (ONB) of the Consunji family last July, adding over P20 billion to BDO’s total loans and deposits.

BDO spent P6.7 billion to acquire the Mindanao-based bank.

On the other hand, fee-based service income contributed P13.9 billion to non-interest income followed by trading and foreign exchange income at P6.3 billion.

Overall, BDO’s gross operating income went up 11 percent to P65.6 billion in the first nine months.

Despite increased business volumes and sustained branch expansion, BDO managed to keep the rise of its operating expenses at 11 percent.

It also continued to prudently manage its balance sheet and set aside provisions amounting to P2.7 billion. Soured loans or non-performing loan (NPL) ratio also improved to 1.2 percent in the first nine months compared to 1.4 percent in the same period last year. The bank’s NPL cover settled at 182 percent even after the consolidation of ONB.