BDO's profit rises to record 132.7 billion

Unibank, Inc. (BDO), the country’s top bank in terms of assets, posted a 17 percent jump in net income to a record 132.7 billion last year from 128.1 billion in 2017, beating the Bank’s 131 billion full-year guidance.

Im a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the bank said its higher profit came on the back of strong recurring earnings from its core businesses.

The Bank likewise capped another milestone as the first Philippine bank to breach the 13 trillion mark in total assets.

Leading the bank’s performance was the solid growth in its core lending and deposit-taking businesses.

Gross customer loans rose by 15 percent to 12.0 trillion on healthy increases across all market segments, while total deposits went up by 14 percent to 12.4 trillion, with low-cost CASA ratio at 70 per cent.

This resulted in the 20 percent expansion in net interest income to P98.3 billion on better net interest margins (NIM). The Bank’s NIM improved to 3.64 percent from 3.48 percent in 2017.

Meanwhile, non-interest income settled at 1 49.7 billion, with fee-based income contributing 130.7 billion and insurance premiums up 20 percent. Overall, gross operating income grew by 15 percent to 1148 billion.

Operating expenses amounted to 198.0 billion, up 16 percent, in line with the Bank’s sustained investments in branch network and strategic initiatives.

Excluding taxes and licenses, which grew by 41 percent as a result of higher business volumes and increased documentary stamp taxes (DST) under TRAIN, operating expenses would have grown by 13 percent.

The bank remained prudent and set aside 16.3 billion in provisions even as NPL ratio further improved to 1.0 percent from 1.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2017. NPL cover was higher at 183 percent compared to 146 percent in 2017.