UNIONBANK IS PH’S STRONGEST BANK FOR 2017 – ASIAN BANKER

Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) was judged as the "Strongest Bank in the Philippines" and "one of the 500 Strongest Banks Worldwide" for 2017, according to the Asian Banker.

UnionBank holds the topspot among Philippine banks in this year’s Asian Banker 500 (AB500) "Strongest Banks in terms of Balance Sheet," an annual comprehensive assessment of the financial and business performance of the commercial banking industry in the Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa regions.

Winners in the AB500 are determined using a quantitative scorecard, on a scale of 0 to 5, based on six crucial performance indicators, namely scale, balance sheet growth, risk profile, profitability, asset quality and liquidity.

Main sources of data include bank annual reports and statistics provided by central banks or industry associations.

Importantly, the "Asian Banker 500" ranking is widely followed by investors, analysts and the media as the leading source to assess the financial strengths of commercial banks in the region.

UnionBank consistently ranks among the Top 3 listed banks in the Philippines in terms of profitability and cost efficiency ratios.

In 2016, UnionBank posted 16.30 percent return on equity(ROE), 2.20 percent return on assets (ROA) and 46.40 percent cost-to-income ratio.

For the first half of 2017, it recorded 12.70 percent ROE, 1.60 percent ROA and 52.90 percent cost-to-income ratio.

These figures are well above the banking industry averages of 9.79 percent ROE, 1.17 percent ROA and 64.18 percent cost-toincome ratio.

UnionBank posted two consecutive years of record growth in customer loans and expanded at a rate that is twice that of the industry.

The bank’s total loans grew by 29 percent and 31 percent in 2015 and 2016, respectively, versus the industry’s 13 percent and 17 percent growth for the same years.

Meanwhile, as of June 2017, UnionBank’s loans increased by 32 percent year-on-year to P265.3 billion from June 2016’s P201.7 billion.