BPI PROFIT UP 14% TO P5.36B

Ayala-led Bank of the Philippine Islands posted a 14-percent year-on-year rise in net profit in the third quarter to to P5.36 billion on the back of higher interest earnings.

For the nine-month period, BPI’s net profit fell by 1.9 percent to P17.05 billion. But excluding one-off gains from the sale of securities in June last year, BPI’s core net profit rose by 32.7 percent year-on-year.

This translated to a return on equity of 13.1 percent and return on assets of 1.3 percent, lower by 1.6 and 0.2 percentage points, respectively.

Total revenue in the first nine months rose by 5.2 percent year-on-year to P53.04 billion, driven by net interest income which surged by 13.5 percent to P35.5 billion.

Non-interest income fell by 8.4 percent year-on-year to P17.54 billion, due to the absence of significant one-off trading gains similar to those realized in June 2016.

The bank posted a 20.1-percent rise in fee-based income from investment banking, asset management and trust, depositrelated fees and credit cards.

As a measure of cost-efficiency, BPI spent 52.5 centavos to earn every peso, up from 50.7 centavos a year ago.