UNION BANK of the Philippines (UnionBank) saw its income slide in the second quarter, but still posted a double-digit income in the first semester, it reported on Friday.

The bank booked a P2.15-billion net income in the second quarter, it said in a statement on Friday. This is down 6.85% from the P2.31 billion recorded in the same period last year and 2.71% lower than the P2.21 billion seen in the first three months of the year.

This brought its earnings for the first half to P4.4 billion, still 11% higher than the P3.9 billion posted in the same period in 2016.

The bank said the increase in its income in the first semester was due to sustained growth from its core business.

“Similar to the past several quarters, we posted a strong growth across all major loan segments as well as deposits, consistent with our strategy of sustainable gains from a predominantly accrual-income business,” UnionBank said.

“Importantly, this growth also included investment spending to expand its retail banking team, accelerate its digital transformation initiatives as well as to shore up its contingency reserves,” the statement read.

Total assets as of June were at P553 billion, while its loans and deposits were at P265 billion and P434 billion, respectively.

Shares of UnionBank closed at P86.30 apiece on Friday, up by five centavos or 0.06% from the previous day’s finish of P86.25 per share. — Elijah Joseph C. Tubayan

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