BDO Leasing gets PRS rating

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Ratings Services Corp. (PhilRatings) has given a PRS 2 minus rating to the P15-billion short-term commercial paper issuance of the BDO Leasing & Finance Inc. A short-term issue rating of PRS 2 is defined as “above average capability for payment of commercial paper issue on both interest and principal.” PhilRatings took into account BDO Leasing’s solid market position and business synergy with its parent company, BDO Unibank, its expanding loan portfolio, which offsets margin compression, improved asset quality, as well as sufficient capitalization. For the first nine months, BDO Leasing reported a 36.7-percent rise in net income to P297 million, mainly due to successful cost-containment measures.  Gross revenues went up nine percent to P1.3 billion, while operating expenses remained relatively unchanged. BDO Leasing’s growing asset base is expected to result in improved profitability in the coming years, PhilRatings said.