Bank of Commerce posts higher net income in the first half

BANK of Commerce (BankCom) saw its net profit rise by 79% in the first half, driven by sustained growth of its core businesses.

The bank’s net income stood at P1.59 billion in the first semester, up from P886.01 million in the same period last year, it said in a statement on Wednesday.

Its financial statement was not available as of press time.

Its second-quarter net income stood at P874.35 million, with gross revenues at P2.58 billion.

The lender’s first-semester performance translated to a return on equity of 11% and a return on assets of 1.49%.

Net interest income grew by 28% year on year to P3.95 billion in the first half.

This resulted in a net interest margin of 4.35%, up from 3.73% at end-2022.

Meanwhile, non-interest income grew by 54% to P901.2 million.

The bank said this was mainly due to a 24% rise in fee-based revenues to P448.02 million.

“Foreign exchange gains also rose by 18% to P80.81 million on account of increased volume of transactions,” BankCom said.

“The bank recorded a reversal of provisions amounting to P11.83 million reflecting improving credit quality and some recoveries,” it added.

This resulted in a 32% growth in revenues to P4.85 billion.

Meanwhile, total operating expenses excluding provisions rose by 7.51% to P2.74 billion in the first quarter.

Its cost-to-income ratio stood at 56.36% at end-June.

Loans and receivables went up by 3.22% to P108.47 billion driven by corporate lending.

Its net nonperforming loan (NPL) ratio decreased to 0.56% from 0.6% at end-2022. Meanwhile, its gross NPL ratio stood at 2.13%.

The bank’s assets stood at P207.52 billion at end-June.

Meanwhile, total capital rose by 6% to P29.67 billion from P28.03 billion at end-2022. Its capital adequacy ratio climbed to 19.42% as of June from 17.97%.

BankCom’s shares closed at P6.05 apiece on Wednesday, up by two centavos or 0.33%. — AMCS