UCPB posts higher profit on core businesses’ growth
UNITED Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB) saw higher net earnings in 2017 as income from its businesses grew across the board.
In a statement sent to reporters late Monday, the state-owned bank said it posted a P4.08-billion net income in 2017, higher by 22% from its earnings posted in 2016.
The bank’s interest income grew 7% to P14.2 billion, driven by strong growth in loans, which stood at P171.7 billion, higher than the P156 billion booked in 2016.
Deposits, meanwhile, rose to P279.5 billion from the P265.6 billion posted at end-2016.
UCPB’s non-interest income also climbed 5.2% to P2.7 billion on the back of strong trading and securities gains, as well as revenues from its newly launched bancassurance business.
The bancassurance business of UCPB, in partnership with life insurer Cocolife and non-life insurer UCPB General Insurance Co., Inc. yielded total premiums of P1.05 billion in the nine months after its launch in April last year.
The bank is “eyeing to sustain the double-digit core earnings growth this year, anchored on the continued expansion of our consumer and middle market lending operations and a greater push to increase non-interest revenues from our other fee-based services like bancassurance,” UCPB President and Chief Executive