Philippine Business Bank, Inc (PBB) booked a 24.4% increase in its net income in 2021, backed by the stronger performance of its core businesses as economic recovery continued.

PBB’s net profit stood at P1.16 billion last year versus the P938.88 million it booked in 2020.

“The bank’s full-year net income was driven by an improving economy and slower build-up of loan loss reserves following the bank’s accelerated provisioning strategy in 2020,” it said in a disclosure to the stock exchange on Tuesday.

This translated to a return on average equity of 8.24%, higher than the 7.02% it posted in 2020. Return on average assets also went up to 0.93% in 2021 from 0.80% a year prior.

“The bank has invested in a new core banking system in 2021 to strategically position PBB towards the digital banking era. We expect to continue to improve our products and services as a result of investments we seek to make in expanding our technological capabilities,” PBB Chief Executive Officer Roland Avante said in a press release on Tuesday.

“For 2022, we are seeing the resumption of commercial activities resulting in increased loan demand. We are optimistic that the economic recovery will continue to drive positive results. The bank’s processes and procedures evolve as we identify emerging opportunities to improve the way we serve our customers,” PBB said.

PBB’s net interest income dipped by 2.3% to P5.49 billion in 2021 from P5.62 billion in 2020. The lender attributed this muted decline to better management of funder costs and lower interest rates due to the central bank’s easy policy amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The bank’s net loans and other receivables increased by 2.68% to P91.7 billion in 2021 from P89.3 billion a year prior.

PBB set aside P747.4 million in provisions for loan losses. Total loan loss reserves as of end 2021 amounted to P4.2 billion, covering 105.9% of its non-performing loans.

Meanwhile, trading and other investment securities declined by 14.1% to P15.4 billion from P17.9 billion a year earlier due to the P9.6-billion decrease in trading securities, the bank said.

On the funding side, deposit liabilities reached P112.4 billion as of end-2021, up from P100.4 billion in 2020 amid a 41.7% increase in current account, saving account deposits.

PBB’s capital adequacy ratio was at 11.82% as of December. The bank’s common equity Tier 1 ratio stood at 11.08%.

Its total resources as of December 2021 reached P132 billion.

The bank’s shares closed unchanged at P7 apiece on Wednesday. — KBT

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR