Chinatrust income up

MANILA, Philippines - Chinatrust (Philippines) Commercial Bank has reported a net income of P410 million last year, or an increase of 20.84 percent over the P339 million in 2009. That likewise translates to 7.3- percent return on equity (ROE) and 1.6-percent return on assets (ROA). 

Chinatrust president and chief executive officer Mark Chen said in the 2010 results surpassed original targets.

“This (20-percent growth in earnings) can be attributed to better margins on account of lower costs of funds, as well as substantial increase in our income from treasury operations,” Chen added.

The bank chief executive added that the favorable economic environment that prevailed last year allowed Chinatrust to take advantage of the opportunities in the bond markets. Trading gains and foreign exchange gains amounted to P307 million, an increase of 90.33 percent over the P161 million generated in 2009. 

Net interest income rose slightly to P1.556 billion for the same period under review, or an increase of 3.6 percent from the P1.502 billion the previous year.   

Chinatrust has set aside some P286.95 million as provisions for impairment and credit losses, maintaining its conservative stance on loan loss provisioning. 

Risk-weighted capital adequacy ratio (CAR) was recorded at 24.68 percent as of year-end, higher than industry average and substantially higher than the BSP requirement of 10 percent.

Chinatrust Philippines is a subsidiary of Chinatrust Commercial Bank (CTCB) of Taiwan.