MANILA, Philippines — The earnings of Yuchengco-led Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) rose by 33 percent to P5.34 billion in the first nine months from P4 billion in the same period last year, after a strong third quarter as business momentum continued to accelerate amid the gradual reopening of the economy.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), RCBC said net interest income went up by 7.5 percent to P21.16 billion from January to September compared to P19.68 billion in the same period last year.
The bank’s other operating income fell by 42.6 percent to P5.55 billion from P9.68 billion, as trading and securities gains plunged by 88.5 percent to P668 million from a year-ago level of P5.84 billion and foreign exchange gains dropped by 90.4 percent to P43 million form P446 million.
Earnings from services fees and commissions, on the other hand, surged by 40.4 percent to P3.4 billion from P2.42 billion.
RCBC’s operating expenses inched up by 2.8 percent to P16.83 billion in the first nine months from P16.37 billion a year ago.
The bank’s provision for impairment losses dropped by 45.6 percent to P3.93 billion from P7.22 billion a year ago.
For the third quarter alone, RCBC’s net income more than doubled to P2.02 billion from P892 million in the same quarter last year as net interest income booked a double digit 10.5 percent increase to P7.58 billion from P6.86 billion, and other operating income increased by 23.9 percent to P2.02 billion from P1.63 billion.
The bank’s provision for potential loan losses fell by 20.7 percent to P1.6 billion from July to September compared to P2.02 billion in the same period last year.
RCBC’s other operating expenses inched up by 5.7 percent to P5.67 billion from P5.36 billion.
For the nine-month period, RCBC’s loan book went up by 13.8 percent to P506.71 billion from P445.23 billion in the same period last year, as business momentum continued to accelerate with strong double-digit growth of 13 percent in customer loans.
The bank recorded a significant expansion in loan book across segments, led by the corporate loan portfolio (up by 17 percent) and small and medium enterprises (SME) portfolio (up by 18 percent).
“The bank supported working capital requirements and continued to participate in project finance transactions for renewable energy projects in the country and Southeast Asian region,” RCBC said.
Its deposit base surged by 26 percent to P626.88 billion from P496.83 billion amid the 30 percent jump in low-cost current account savings account (CASA) deposits.
RCBC president and chief executive officer Eugene Acevedo said the bank’s ongoing digital transformation across several business lines has accelerated customer acquisition and improved cost efficiency.
“We are excited to further bring fintech innovation across all product lines, as we see a rapid shift in the trajectory of financial services even beyond the pandemic,” Acevedo said.
Data analytics helped drive growth for the credit card business with a 68 percent jump in new cards issued, bringing the total cards-in-force to nearly 910,000 as of end-September.
As the bank continued to make more banking services available in the mobile app, RCBC said more customers are taking up the digital channel with gross transaction value increasing by 2.2 times year- on- year.
“We continue to harness our digital capabilities and leverage emerging technologies to build resilience and adapt to future disruptions while sharpening our focus to deliver innovative customer solutions and prime the organization for further growth in the years ahead,” Acevedo said.
RCBC’s total assets increased by 19 percent to P872.97 billion from P731 billion. Its capital booked a 10 percent growth to P109.59 billion from P99.49 billion, translating in a capital adequacy ratio of 15.2 percent and a common equity tier-1 ratio of 12.1 percent.
Last July, Tokyo-based Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. completed the acquisition of a close to a five percent stake in RCBC for P4.48 billion.