Wells Fargo commits continued Philippines operations

MANILA, Philippines — US financial services company Wells Fargo & Co. has reiterated its commitment to continue to operate in the Philippines as it considers the country a strategic location.

In a statement, Wells Fargo said it would continue to operate in Manila, even as it is moving 700 technology roles from the country to India.

“Wells Fargo remains committed to operating in Manila as a strategic location and has no plans to close its Manila operations,” it said.

In addition, the company would continue to have approximately 50 technology team members in Manila and nearly 4,800 employees overall located in the Philippines.

Last month, it was reported Wells Fargo would be laying off 700 of its 750 technology employees as part of a global workplace optimization strategy.

Some of the jobs in Manila would be moved to India as the company has a larger technology employee presence there.

Wells Fargo said the relocation of the technology roles to India does not imply the company is leaving the Philippines.

“The relocation of these limited technology roles does not impact Wells Fargo’s clients in the Philippines, who will continue to be served through the Wells Fargo Manila Representative Office and regional teams across Asia Pacific,” the company said.

Wells Fargo added all affected employees would be provided notice period and separation benefits, as required by local laws.

Wells Fargo said the Philippines remains a strategic location for the company.

In July last year, Wells Fargo inaugurated a new 12-story structure at McKinley Hill, Bonifacio Global City, which is used to support international operations, knowledge support, and middle and back-end business process solutions.

The company said it expects the McKinley Hill facility to continue to grow across multiple businesses and functions.

State-run Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) is targeting to increase its net income to P6.1 billion this year, the Department of Finance (DOF) said yesterday.

Citing a report from DBP president and chief executive officer Emmanuel Herbosa, the DOF said the bank is aiming to sustain its growth momentum this year after a strong performance in 2019.

According to the DOF, the DBP is targeting to book a total net income of P6.1 billion in 2020, a slight increase from its earnings of P6.06 billion last year.

DBP also set a goal to reach out to more borrowers and increase its lending by about 1.2 percent to P419 billion from P414.06 in 2019, and to expand its deposit base to P594 billion.

“We will continue to help spur the development of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), assist the newly formed Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), as well as the rest of Mindanao, and forge partnerships in fintech (financial technology) companies to increase manpower productivity and the digitalization of our operations,” Herbosa said.

In addition, the DBP is also planning to expand its asset base to P817 billion by the end of the year, and to infuse additional capital amounting to P63 billion.

In his report, Herbosa said the bank remains on track to achieve its P1 trillion asset goal by 2022.

“We project an average growth in assets of 10 percent per year to meet our goal of P1 trillion by 2022,” Herbosa said.

In 2019, the DBP’s assets grew almost 14 percent to P762.17 billion from P669.59 billion in 2018.

DBP data showed that 54 percent or P414.06 billion of the amount came in the form of loans, consistent with its role as a developmental bank. 

Another P206.56 billion represented its investments in treasuries and other ventures, and the remaining P141.55 billion were investments in other assets.

Of the total loan portfolio, the DBP said 46.2 percent or P164.8 billion went to the infrastructure and logistics sector. The total loans extended to the social services sector also amounted to P71.2 billion.

Funding support to micro, small and medium enterprises reached P27.8 billion, while loans for environmental projects amounted to P44.3 billion.

Meanwhile, the bank’s deposits in 2019 grew by 17 percent to P554.63 billion from P474.44 billion in 2018.

DBP’s capital likewise expanded by 16.57 percent to P60.29 billion.

Net income rose by 5.94 percent to P6.06 billion from P5.72 billion in 2018.

“The bank surpassed all its key financial targets in 2019 and recorded substantial growth against the 2018 financial figures,” Herbosa said.  – Mary Grace Padin