Thrift banks’ NPL ratio improves

The country’s 70 thrift banks reported lower gross non-performing loans (NPL) of 4.83 percent ratio against the sector’s total loan portfolio of P562.85 billion as of end-June, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said. The gross NPL ratio as of end-March was 4.94 percent and 5.94 percent the same period in 2013. The thrift banks’ NPL continue to decline. In the second quarter its NPL dropped 2.44 percent year-on-year to P27.16 billion. This amount is hardly changed compared to end-March of P27.06 billion and the last year’s P27.8 billion. According to a BSP statement, “the decline in the NPL comes amidst a more conservative handling of their reserves for loan losses.” Thrift banks’ loan loss provisioning stood at 70.27 percent during the period, which is a lower NPL coverage ratio than the same time last year of 72.28 percent but higher than end-March’s 69.37 percent. As for total loan portfolio, the P562.85 billion as of end-June is higher compared to the previous quarter’s P547.79 billion and P468.83 billion the same period in 2013. (LCC)