Submission of 2021 FS extended

MANILA, Philippines — The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is giving banks and financial institutions a two-month extension for the submission of their 2021 audited financial statements and other accompanying reports due to the sudden surge of COVID cases brought about by the more contagious Omicron variant early this year.

BSP Deputy Governor Chuchi Fonacier said the Monetary Board issued Resolution 595 approving the extension of the submission deadline of the 2021 financial statements of BSP-supervised financial institutions (BSFIs).

“The annual submission deadline of the AFS Reporting Package is extended until June 30, 2022 or 60 calendar days from the original deadline prescribed under Circular 1074 and 1075 on Financial Audit for Banks and Non-Bank Financial Institutions, respectively,” Fonacier said.

The BSP said the sudden surge in COVID cases in the early part of the year posed operational challenges related to the conduct of audit.

“The extension affords both the BSFIs and the external auditors additional time to complete discussions on the results of audit and preparation of the AFS and accompanying reports,” the regulator said.

Last year, the BSP also granted similar relief to BSFIs for the submission of the 2020 AFS.?

Earnings of Philippine banks bounced back, jumping by 44.8 percent to P224.75 billion last year from  P155.22 billion in 2020 on the back of the sharp drop in provisioning for bad debts as the country continues to recover from the impact of the pandemic.

Despite the increase, the industry profit has yet to fully recover from the global health crisis that translated to a 32.7 percent slump in earnings in 2020 from an all-time high of P230.67 billion in 2019.

Preliminary data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed the operating income of Philippine banks decreased by more than one percent to P869.42 billion.

The non-interest expenses of banks rose by 4.2 percent to P512.37 billion from P491.53 billion.

According to the BSP, the industry’s provision for credit losses on loans and other financial assets plummeted by 49.7 percent to P106.39 billion last year from P211.61 billion in 2020 as the economy continues to reopen from strict COVID-19 lockdowns.

On the other hand, soured loans written off by Philippine banks went up by 18 percent to P7.54 billion in 2021 from P6.39 billion in 2020.

The country emerged from the pandemic-induced recession that stretched five quarters with a gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 5.7 percent last year after contracting by 9.6 percent in 2020.