By James A. Loyola
Union Bank of the Philippines recorded a 40 percent hike in net income to P8.5 billion in the first nine months of 2019.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the bank said the higher net income was primarily driven by robust revenues coming from the sustained double-digit growth in earning assets, as well as strong trading gains for the year.
The Bank registered P685.8 billion in total assets as of end-September 2019 compared to P643.0 billion in the same period last year.
Total loans were at P346.3 billion, up 10 percent year-on-year (YoY), buoyed up by the Parent Bank’s credit card business (up 37 percent YoY), consumer loans (up 31 percentYoY), SME Banking (up 42 percent YoY), and commercial lending (up 13 percent YoY).
“Net income for the year was boosted by strong trading gains, as well as improvement in our margins. Net interest margin in the third quarter of 2019 increased by 100bps compared to its low during the start of the year. Additionally, consumer and middle-market loans sustained healthy growths,” said UnionBank Treasurer Jose Emmanuel U. Hilado.
UnionBank President Edwin R. Bautista added, “UnionBankers did very well in the first nine months of 2019. Our digital transformation plans are ahead of schedule.”
He added that, “we recorded solid growth across the different business segments. CitySavings also stabilized – delivering around P15.0 billion in salary loan releases and 9,000 motorcycle units during the third quarter.”
“We are fortunate that the substantial improvement in margins and trading gains from favorable market conditions have converged,” said Bautista.