PSBank books flat net earnings in 2018

PHILIPPINE SAVINGS Bank’s (PSBank) net income was steady in 2018 as its lending and deposit-taking businesses continued to expand.
In a regulatory filing on Tuesday, the savings arm of Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. reported that it booked a net income of P2.7 billion last year, flat from the previous year’s level.
This translated to a return on equity of 11.4% and a return on assets of 1.2%.
The bank’s net interest income grew by 2.3% year-on-year to P11.3 billion in 2018.
Total loans reached P156.7 billion at 2018’s close, up 7.1% from P146.3 billion in the comparative year-ago period.
On the funding side, deposits expanded 6.2% to P200.7 billion last year from 2017’s P188.9 billion.
Overall, PSBank’s assets stood at P237.7 billion in 2018, up 6.4% from the P223.3 billion recorded the previous year.
The lender’s capital adequacy ratio stood at 13.9% while its common equity Tier 1 ratio was at 11.3%, well above the central bank’s minimum requirements.
“PSBank proactively responded to last year’s challenges brought about by higher interest rates and inflation by focusing on sales and improving on its operating efficiencies, without compromising its commitment in providing excellent customer service,” PSBank President Jose Vicente L. Alde was quoted as saying in the statement.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas fired off five consecutive rate hikes last year totalling 175 basis points (bp) to arrest surging inflation, which averaged 5.2% in 2018. This was marked with back-to-back 50-bp tightening moves just as prices were surging to multi-year highs.
Easing inflation — which stood at a better-than-expected headline print of 3.8% in February — is seen to spur consumer spending.
In September, the bank announced it will issue P10 billion worth of medium-term notes to “give PSBank an opportunity to access medium-term and stable funding as the bank further expand its consumer banking business.”
Prior to this, it raised P5.08 billion in August through the issuance of long-term negotiable certificates of time deposits, which carry a 5% coupon.
In January, it also raised P8 billion via a stock rights offer, selling 142.9 million common shares priced at P56 apiece. — K.A.N. Vidal