PHILIPPINE Business Bank (PBB) posted a higher net profit in the third quarter as it saw robust growth in its core businesses.
In a disclosure to the local bourse on Thursday, the Yao-led lender said it recorded a P262.09-million net income in the July-September period, soaring by 162.1% from the P99.99 million posted in the same quarter last year.
This brought PBB’s year-to-date net earnings to P610.25 million, up by 38.6% from last year’s P440.31 million.
Rolando R. Avante, PBB President and Chief Executive Officer, said the bank’s profitability continues to strengthen.
“The 38.6% growth in net profit year-on-year underscores the bank’s transformation form a treasury-focused institution to a full service thrift bank,” Mr. Avante was quoted as saying in the regulatory filing.
The bank’s net interest income in the third quarter stood at P928.99 million, up 17.7% from the P789.05 million a year ago.
Profit on loans and other receivables drove the bank’s net interest earnings to reach P1.34 billion in the third quarter, climbing 38.7% from last year’s P966.42 million.
As of end-September, the bank’s loans and receivables stood at P80.3 billion, 23.4% higher versus last year.
PBB’s net interest margin improved slightly, ending the previous quarter at 4.1% from the 4% in the comparative year-ago period.
The bank’s non-performing loans ratio, on the other hand, decreased to 2.14% as of end-September from end-2017’s 2.18%.
On the funding side, total deposits reached P79.6 billion at end-September, 18.8% higher year-on-year, with low-cost funds growing 9.7% to P29.8 billion. Meanwhile, time deposits rose by 24.9% to P49.8 billion.
The thrift lender’s non-interest earning grew 483.2% to P154.9 million from only P26.6 million a year ago, as profit from service charges, fees and commissions expanded 64% to P162.84 million.
Overall, PBB ended the third quarter with total assets of P96.2 billion, up 19.9% year-on-year. Equity stood at P11.1 billion, which increased 10.3% or a billion from a year ago.
“The bank continues to explore operational improvements to help us serve the SME (small and medium enterprises) market better,” Mr. Avante said.
“We also remain opportunistic with respect to potential acquisitions as we seek to expand our presence in SME-rich business centers all over the country. We consider strategic purchases and white-knight opportunities in our deal origination process.”
PBB, the fourth-biggest thrift lender in asset terms as of end-June, has a total of 145 branches throughout major cities in the country as of last month.
Shares in PBB closed unchanged at P11.10 apiece on Thursday. — Karl Angelo N. Vidal