AUB budgets P177 M for Singapore-based remittance company

MANILA, Philippines - Asia United Bank (AUB) spent P177 million to take over a remittance firm based in Singapore as part of efforts to boost its presence abroad to serve overseas Filipinos sending cash to their loved ones in the Philippines.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), AUB first vice president Cynthia Santos said the bank has completed the purchase of Pinoy Express Pte. Ltd.

Santos said AUB acquired 300,000 shares of Pinoy Express owned by Seah Keng Chuan and Dione Mohammad at P589.72 per share.

The purchase price was paid in cash and is less than one percent of the book value of AUB.

“AUB conducted its due diligence process and based the final purchase price on the historical income of Pinoy Express,” she told the PSE.

She said the transaction was consummated after the bank received all the necessary regulatory approvals last Oct. 27.

Pinoy Express is a duly registered corporation in Singapore and is licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore as a remittance company. It provides a complete range of remittance products and services to migrant workers, principally overseas Filipinos in Singapore.

AUB decided to take over Pinoy Express to improve the bank’s coverage of the Singapore remittance market.

The bank’s earnings slipped by more than three percent to P852.76 million in the first half from P879.54 million in the same period last year.

The bank’s interest income jumped 20 percent to P2.82 billion in the first half from P2.35 billion in the same period last year, while interest expense surged 29.7 percent to P599.68 million from P462.4 million.

AUB’s operating expenses went up 27.6 percent to P2.1 billion in the first six months from P1.65 billion in the same period last year with the opening of more branches and higher provisioning for losses.

The bank’s provision for credit and impairment losses surged more than 140 percent to P244.56 million form P101.81 million.