Landbank income up

The Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) has reported reported a 16-percent increase in net income to P585 million in January-February 2005 from P504 million for the same period last year.

LBP president and chief executive officer Gary B. Teves attributed the improvement in net income to the increase in interest from loans and investments.

It’s non-performing loans (NPL) in end-February stood at P19.5 billion, lower than the P20.7 billion in February last year.

The NPL ratio will drop to nine percent or lower after the booking of last year’s successful sale of non-performing assets worth P13.5 billion under the Special Purpose Assets Vehicle (SPAV) Law.

The government financial institution recorded a net income of P2.25 billion last year, or 12 percent higher than the P2 billion in 2003.

"We‚ve set another record by exceeding targets for four years in a row," Teves said. In 2001, net income hit P1.5 billion increasing to P1.65 billion in 2002.

The LBP ranked third among the commercial banks in deposits, which grew by 16 percent from P185.2 billion in 2003 to P214.9 billion in 2004.

In terms of assets, it placed fourth with an eight-percent increase from P266 billion to P287 billion. In terms of loans and capital, it ranked fifth with P133 billion and P21 billion, respectively. – Ted Torres