AUB books higher net income in 2017 as businesses grow
ASIA UNITED Bank Corp. (AUB) saw its net income rise in 2017 supported by growth across its businesses.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Wednesday, the bank said AUB and its subsidiaries booked a net income of P2.8 billion in 2017, 23% higher than the P2.3 billion logged in the previous year.
In 2017, the bank recorded a net interest income of P6.5 billion, higher by 15% from P5.7 billion in the comparable year-ago period.
Total loans rose 34% to P131.1 billion, while total deposits grew 23% to P159 billion.
Overall, AUB’s assets grew 21% to nearly P200 billion.
“We are confident that AUB will show accelerated growth on our core lending business as we cater to the needs of corporates and small and medium enterprises,” AUB President Manuel A. Gomez was quoted as saying in the statement.
“We are making headways in the consumer market, particularly in credit cards, salary and pension loans.”
AUB recently relaunched its AUB Corporate Auto Salary Housing Employee Loan Program, or CASHelp, a one-stop consumer loan facility for accredited companies to help the employees seek loan programs.
Late last year, AUB partnered with Chinese conglomerate Tencent to bring mobile payments application WeChat Pay in the Philippines, enabling local enterprises to take advantage the growing Chinese tourists arrivals in the country.
Latest data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas showed AUB was the 14th biggest commercial bank in the Philippines in asset terms as of end-September 2017.
AUB shares closed unchanged at P59.50 each on Wednesday. — Karl Angelo N. Vidal
