Acquisition of add’l stake in unit gets CB nod–pnb

TAN-LED Philippine National Bank (PNB) announced it has secured the green-light from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) for its additional stake acquisition in a subsidiary.

“PNB Board of Directors noted and confirmed the report on the approval of the [BSP] of the additional equity investments in PNB Holdings Corp.,” the listed bank said in disclosure on Monday.

It was in September last year when the PNB announced it was selling some of its prime real estate properties in exchange for P46.68-billion worth of additional ownership in PNB Holdings.

The bank would be subscribing to 466.77 million shares of the holding company for P100 apiece. Subscription price was based on the par value per share of PNB Holdings.

Upon completion, the additional subscription will be equivalent to 99.46 percent of PNB Holdings’ outstanding shares.

“This is part of Bank’s plan to realize the market value of its prime properties and reduce its low-earning assets to strengthen its financial position,” PNB added.

In a separate disclosure on Monday, PNB also confirmed the receipt of the first of the three installment payments from Allied Bankers Insurance Corp. for the latter’s acquisition of PNB shareholdings in PNB General Insurers Co. Inc. (PNBGEN).

PNB shares climbed by 0.55 percent, or 15 centavos, to finish at

P27.65 each amid the 0.36-percent uptick for the benchmark index last Monday.

PNB earlier said it was selling its stake, along with PNB Holdings’s, in PNBGEN to Alliedbankers for P1.52 billion or 9.126 million shares for P166.93 apiece.

The Insurance Commission gave the go-signal for the transaction last December 29, 2020. The share purchase agreement was also signed the same day.

PNB President Jose Arnulfo A. Veloso has told the Businessmirror the bank plans to introduce a digital account opening facility this year in a bid to improve its online banking services. Veloso further explained that the pandemic has highlighted the need for an efficient digital platform, which the bank is working for.

Last year, the listed bank allocated around P2.5 billion of capital expenditures for information technology projects, which is 15-percent more than the amount earmarked in 2019. Of this budget, 30 percent is for digital payments and e-wallet, among others.

In the first nine months of last year, the listed bank’s net income dipped by 39 percent to P3.87 billion from P6.34 billion for the same period in 2019 due to higher provisioning for potential credit losses.

Its capital adequacy ratio and common equity tier 1 stood at 16.40 percent and 15.67 percent, respectively, as of end-september 2020.