China Bank books higher earnings in H1

Sy-led China Banking Corp. booked a double-digit increase in earnings, growing by 17 percent to P4.2 billion in the first half from P3.56 billion in the same period last year.

William Whang, president at China Bank, said the bank has laid down the strong foundation for solid growth.

“Our strong financial performance in the first half reflects our good fundamentals that provide the foundation for sustainable growth. As we continue to build on our strengths, we are confident about meeting our goals for the year and delivering value to our customers and other stakeholders,” Whang said.

The country’s sixth largest lender in terms of assets said sustained loans and deposits build-up and greater contribution from fee-based businesses resulted to improved earnings.

This translated to a year-onyear return on equity of 9.45 percent and return on assets of 0.95 percent.

China Bank said its net interest income inched up by six percent to P11.7 billion, driven by double-digit growth in loans and securities.

On the other hand, feebased income jumped by 61 percent to P3.4 billion due to higher trading gains as well as service fees and commissions.

The bank’s deposit base grew by 15 percent to P750 billion in the first semester from P653.4 billion in the same period last year amid the steady increase in checking and savings accounts.

Its loan book also expanded by 12 percent to P533 billion from P469.4 billion due to stronger demand across all customer segments.

Despite the sustained loans growth, non-performing loans (NPL) ratio improved to 1.2 percent from 1.5 percent, while NPL coverage expanded to 148 percent from 107 percent.

The bank’s total resources stood at P908 billion, 18 percent higher than last year’s P768.4 billion.

Likewise, total capital funds rose eight percent to P90.4 billion from P83.6 billion. Its common equity tier (CET) 1 ratio and total capital adequacy ratio (CAR) stood at 12.9 percent and 13.8 percent, respectively.

Last month, China Bank raised P30 billion as investors swarmed its maiden issue of peso fixed rate bonds.