Security Bank on track to hit 2016 growth goals
SECURITY BANK Corp. (Security Bank) is on track to hit its growth targets for 2016 after it posted higher earnings in the first nine months of the year.
“We are on track versus our financial and business goals for 2016 based on our first nine months results,” Alfonso L. Salcedo, Jr., president and chief executive officer of Security Bank said in an e-mail interview when asked for the bank’s outlook in terms of its overall growth for 2016.
Mr. Salcedo had previously said that Security Bank aims to sustain the double-digit growth in its loan portfolio to have come in at “between 22% and 29% by the end of the year,” with all segments of its lending business seen to drive the expansion, as the bank continues to expand its reach nationwide.
The country’s sixth largest lender saw its bottom line in the January to September period reach P6.6 billion, climbing by 9% from the P6.1- billion net profit recorded a year ago, driven by higher net interest and operating income.
Its operating income rose 10.3% to P16 billion from P14.2 billion a year ago that offset the rise in the bank’s total operating expenses during the period to P8.402 billion, higher from P7.51 billion in 2015.
“Our income has been driven by core recurring income, with net interest income growing by 28% year on year for the first nine months. We are executing our strategy of growing our three core businesses (retail banking, wholesale banking, financial markets),” Mr. Salcedo said in the e-mail.
“Our loan portfolio growth was at 24% as of September 2016. Our retail lending business has accelerated, led by home loans and auto loans which grew by over 80% year on year as of September 2016,” Mr. Salcedo added.
Security Bank’s net interest income reached P11.5 billion during the period versus the P9.1 billion posted in the nine months end-September 2015.
Total loans and receivables jumped to P268.2 billion from P216.9 billion in 2015 while total deposits grew P298.71 billion, up 9% from P275.7 billion in the same period in 2015.
Mr. Salcedo earlier said that Security Bank’s collaboration with the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. (BTMU) has borne fruit, with the local lender already receiving accounts from clients of the Japanese bank.
Security Bank secured the central bank’s approval for the partnership with BTMU last Feb. 24. On April 1, the Japanese lender injected a P36.9- billion capital and acquired a 20% stake in Security Bank.
Its shares closed at P190.70 apiece on Tuesday, gaining 70 centavos or 0.37% from Thursday’s finish of P190 each. •