RCBC earnings dip due to one time gain in 2022

Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC), a core business of the Yuchengco Group, reported a 10 percent decline in net income to ₱9 billion in the first nine months of 2023 from the ₱10.1 billion earned in the same period last year.

In a statement, the bank said net income came on the back of a seven percent improvement in core business profitability offset by significant non-recurring income posted last year.

RCBC closed the first nine months of 2023 with record high revenues at ₱36 billion as fee-based income increased by 17 percent from year ago levels.

Total assets climbed 12 percent and reached ₱1.2 trillion driven by a 12 percent increase in customer loans with higher loan volumes across all segments.

The consumer segment led the rally and rose 23 percent year-onyear. Credit cards, in particular, posted 49 percent growth in their portfolio with new cards issued up 51 percent from last year.

Cards-in-force recently surpassed the one million benchmark supported by data-driven acquisition and cross-sell campaigns.

"With customer experience at the heart of our digital transformation strategy, the Bank commits to deliver relevant and disruptive solutions to the market," RCBC President and CEO Eugene S. Acevedo said.

He added that, "These innovative and high-impact Al and digital use cases were key to the Bank's sustained growth despite challenging external headwinds."

To support the Bank's asset buildup strategy, deposits rose 13 percent, mostly from CASA which accounted for 83 percent of the increase and closed 21% higher versus previous year.

Capital also went up following the ₱27 billion capital infusion last July boosting the capital adequacy ratio (CAR) and common equity tier 1 (CET1) ratio to 17.1 percent and 14.4 percent, respectively as of September 30, 2023.

RCBC remains to be the favored digital banking brand with a 42 percent increase in gross transaction volume across the Bank's multiple digital platforms.

As of September 2023, RCBC had a total consolidated network of 459 branches, 1,448 automated teller machines, and 3,426 ATM Go terminals strategically located nationwide.