Expanded lending boosts DBP’S Q1
THE Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) announced last Thursday its net income in the first quarter rose by an annualized rate of 17 percent to P1.23 billion driven by the state-owned lender’s “expanded” lending.
A statement issued by the DBP on May 25 read that its net income during the January-to-march period was P180 billion; it recorded P1.05 billion in the same period last year.
DBP President and CEO Michael O. De Jesus attributed the doubledigit increase in the bank’s bottomline to “expanded ” lending activities to “critical” sectors of the economy that yielded “increased” economic activity.
“DBP’S resurgent financial performance in 2023 is an attestation of its stability as a government financial institution,” de Jesus was quoted in the statement as saying.
“We shall continue to build on this growth trajectory and carry on our mandate of being a catalyst of growth in areas where economic activities are limited and most needed,” he added.
De Jesus noted that DBP’S firstquarter net income was 50-percent higher than its target bottomline of P820 million for the reference period.
The DBP chief pointed out that the lender was able to exceed its firstquarter net income target despite the bank incurring P765 million in provision for credit losses.
Furthermore, De Jesus said DBP, considered the country’s eighthlargest bank in terms of assets and remains, has maintained a “strong” fiscal position after registering increments in its gross loan portfolio in the first quarter.
He said that DBP’S capital grew by 4 percent year-on-year to P80.179 billion from the P76.823 billion recorded during the same period in 2022.
“DBP remains on track to keep its position as one of the most relevant and stable government financial institutions in the country,” De Jesus said.
He added that the bank’s total gross loan portfolio during the 3-month period reached P547 billion, about 1.5-percent higher than the P539 billion it recorded in the first quarter of last year.
De Jesus said the bank’s total loans for logistics totaled to P285.235 billion while its outstanding portfolio for social infrastructure and community development amounted to P107.842 billion.
The DBP also lent P35.82 billion to the agriculture sector, P78.54 billion for other developmental loans (financial and insurance activities, including manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, and food services), P54.166 billion for environmentrelated projects and P30.604 billion to support micro-sized, small-scale and medium-sized enterprises.
“[The] bulk of our releases—or about 55.2 percent of the bank ’s loan portfolio—were released to bankroll government’s infrastructure development initiatives, majority of which are located in the National Capital Region, Central Visayas, Davao, and Central Luzon,” De Jesus said through the statement.