UNIONBANK of the Philippines, Inc. booked a higher net earnings in the third quarter driven by double-digit growth in its recurring income.

The Aboitiz-led bank posted a net profit of P4.2 billion in July to September, higher by 11% in the comparable year-ago period, it said in a disclosure to the local bourse on Monday.

This brought its nine-month net profit to P8.5 billion, 0.9% lower from a year ago, due to higher loan loss reserves, which hit P7.5 billion in the first nine months due to the continued weakness in the economy amid the coronavirus pandemic.

This translated to a return on equity of 11.6%.

The bank’s total assets stood at P758 billion as of September, rising by 11% from P685.8 billion a year ago.

UnionBank’s net interest income in the third quarter jumped by 27% to P7.6 billion from P5.9 billion a year ago on the back of “significant margin improvement” and as fee income increased by 18% to P621.7 million on higher service charges.

Meanwhile, revenues in the first nine months grew by 33% to P31.8 billion driven by a 36% increase in net interest income to P21.4 billion. Non-interest income also rose by 26% to P10.4 billion in the period on the back of higher trading gains.

UnionBank said loans went up by 3% year-on-year to P355.8 billion at end-September from P346.3 billion last year.

On the other hand, total deposits jumped by 29% to P539.9 billion on the back of the 33% growth in current account, savings account deposits. This caused its net interest margin to rise 92 basis points to 4.6%.

UnionBank shares closed at P55 apiece on Monday, rising by 35 centavos or 0.64% from its previous finish of P54.65 per share. — KKTJ

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