MPI’s pre-tax earnings breach P1-billion mark
MAYBANK PHILIPPINES, Inc. (MPI) saw its earnings before tax surpass the P1-billion mark in 2016, its chief executive said, after the bank posted a good performance during the year.
The Malaysian lender’s profit before tax breached P1 billion in 2016, Maybank Philippines Officer-in-Charge and Chief Financial Officer Hazli Abu Samah told reporters when asked for the bank’s financial performance last year.
“If you look at just normal performance, you take that oneoff impact, it’s actually good. We breached I think P1 billion on a normalized basis year on year so we are very encouraged with the result,” Mr. Samah said.
The official said the bank ended 2016 with a “reasonably good” performance, although noting it had to make some provisions, particularly for its compliance with Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Circular No. 855 or the regulator’s guidelines on sound credit risk management practices.
“So we had to make a few adjustments because of regulatory compliances,” he said.
For this year, Maybank Philippines said it sees “good” growth prospects as it expects to ride on the country’s “ideal” business environment and as it projects the Philippine market to “grow quite aggressively.”
Mr. Samah had said they expect the bank’s key products, namely auto and corporate sector, to expand “quite rapidly this year, and similar to what we saw last year.”
Aside from its bullish growth prospects for this year, the Malaysian lender is also looking into increasing its local unit’s footprint nationwide to boost its growth.
Currently, bulk of Maybank Philippines’ branches are situated in the National Capital Region while the rest are located in big cities in Region IV-A or Calabarzon, Iloilo, Cebu, Davao, Cagayan de Oro, one in Zamboanga and one branch in Butuan.
Mr. Samah earlier said Maybank Philippines is eyeing to put up new branches in areas where their target market of “emerging affluent and affluent” clients are present.