THE HOME Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG Fund) booked a higher net income in first quarter on improved loan demand and collections.

In a statement, Pag-IBIG said its net income reached P8.96 billion in the first three months of 2019, climbing 10.5% year-on-year.

Gross income, on the other hand, also rose 7.3% to P12.05 billion in the quarter from the year-ago level.

“While the first three months of the year are usually slow for most companies, we have once again bucked the trend as we continue to achieve double digit growth. The demand for our home loan and cash loan programs exceeded our projections by a considerable margin and marked increases from the same period last year,” Pag-IBIG Fund Chief Executive Officer Acmad Rizaldy P. Moti was quoted as saying in the statement.

In the January to March period, Pag-IBIG’s home loans releases went up 22% year-on-year to P17.21 billion while the number of borrowers increased 13% to 19,696.

Meanwhile, short-term loans (STL) or cash loan releases rose 8% year-on-year to P12.05 billion in the quarter as the number of borrowers grew to 593,269, also higher by 12% from the previous year’s total.

On the other hand, collections stood at P40.24 billion in the period, up 13% from the comparable year-ago period.

Collected members’ monthly savings went up 16% to P11.15 billion. Payments for home loans grew 15% to P15.25 billion, while STL payments went up 8% to P13.67 billion in the first quarter.

Pag-IBIG Fund’s total assets reached P552 billion as of March, 12% higher versus the previous year’s level.

“Our Q1 financials prove once again how robust the workers’ fund really is. We achieved our best year yet in 2018. If the upward trend continues in the next three quarters, we may well be on the way to achieve another best year in 2019,” Mr. Moti said. — GMC

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