RSB targets 25% loan growth this year

MANILA, Philippines - The RCBC Savings Bank (RSB) is looking to grow its loan portfolio by roughly 25 percent to over P50 billion this year, as well as establishing more branches and lending centers.

RSB president and chief executive officer Rommel S. Latinazo said that they are likewise fielding more people in the small and medium enterprise (SME) market, the sector with huge potentials for grow.

“The bank will remain focused on our core business of consumer lending, while attending to further expansion of the SME market,” Latinazo said.

Loan portfolio reached P44.1 billion last year.

But the mortgage or home lending market remains the biggest borrowing sector accounting for 52 percent of its lending portfolio. The auto consumer sector accounts for 38 percent of portfolio, followed by just four percent of the SME market with the balance to personal loans.

“All sectors have been growing by an double-digits on the average, and we want to sustain this,” the bank chief executive added.

The thrift bank of the YGC Group remains adequately capitalized with its networth valued at P7 billion. Under Basel II framework, capital adequacy ratio  (CAR) stood at a little over 16 percent, and nearly 12 percent under the new Basel III capital guidelines.

RSB will be opening five to 10 branches this year to its present network of 145. Its 28 lending centers will likewise emerge in areas where there is a large concentration of SMEs.

Latinazo said that the thrift bank would be increasing its branch to ATM ratio, which presently stands at 1:1.2 ATMs. “We are looking at establishing more than 50 ATMs this year to the existing 343.”

That is similar to the path taken by the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC), the universal bank of the YGC, which is looking at improving its 2.64 branch-to-ATM ratio this year.

At the end of 2013, RCBC opened 15 branches and installing 140 additional ATMs, bringing the consolidated network to 435 branches and 1,150 ATMs.