Security Bank earnings rise to P10.1 billion

MANILA, Philippines — Security Bank Corp. recorded a 17 percent rise in net income to P10.1 billion last year from P8.6 billion in 2018 after a sustained performance in the fourth quarter on the back of strong momentum of its core businesses.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), Security Bank said total revenues surged by 33 percent to an all-time high of P33.9 billion as net interest income jumped by 29 percent to P26.8 billion.

The bank said net interest income from customer loans and deposits or peso bond issuance zoomed by 43 percent to P22.5 billion, driven by the continued growth of retail loans and low-cost deposits.

Its loan book climbed by nine percent to P456 billion from P416 billion as retail loans jumped by 56 percent and wiped out the two percent decline in wholesale loans due to tempered loan demand and disciplined pricing.

The bank’s deposit base inched up by two percent to P499.6 billion. It issued P8.37 billion worth of long-term negotiable certificates of deposits (LTNCDs) and P18 billion worth of bonds to diversify its funding sources and extend its liability tenors and support business expansion.

Security Bank said non-interest earnings jumped by 49 percent to P7.1 billion led by the 40 percent surged in service charges, fees and commissions to P4.1 billion, driven by credit cards, loan fees, deposit charges and bancassurance.

Likewise, securities trading gains more than quadrupled to P1.5 billion from P366 million.

Operating expense grew by 25.8 percent to P17.35 billion from P13.79 billion, driven primarily by the 13 percent rise in manpower to support growth of the retail banking business and transformation of its infrastructure, processes and culture.

For the fourth quarter alone, the bank’s net income went up by 16 percent to P2.6 billion while revenues surged by 43 percent to P9.8 billion, driven by core income.

Security Bank continues to be among the country’s best capitalized private domestic universal banks with a common equity tier 1 (CET1) ratio of 16.9 percent and a capital adequacy ratio (CAR) of 17.9 percent.