Philippine Savings Bank (PSBank), the thrift banking arm of the Metrobank Group, registered a 32 percent drop in net income to P879 million for the first half of 2021 from P1.29 billion in the same period last year.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the bank said gross revenues declined 21.5 percent to P8.73 billion in the first six months of 2021 from the P11.12 billion registered for the same period last year.
Year-on-year, total assets grew 17 percent to P271.7 billion. Total deposits increased by 24 percent to P220.4 billion with low-cost current and savings accounts (CASA) growing by 9 percent.
With muted consumer loan demand, net interest income slipped by 14 percent from the same period last year. This was compensated by an increase in fee income by 26 percent and a reduction in operating expenses by 5 percent, resulting in a cost-to-income ratio of 57.3 percent.
Sustained improvement in loan portfolio quality was observed with non-performing loans continuing to be on a downtrend. Net non-performing loans ratio remained manageable at 4.2 percent, down from 5.2 percent as of end-2020.
PSBank’s capital position remained strong at P34.76 billion as of June 2021. Total Capital Adequacy Ratio and Common Equity Tier 1 Ratio (CET1) improved to double the regulatory minimum at 22.1 percent and 21.1 percent, respectively.
“While there were signs of recovery especially in the second quarter of 2021, the market still remained volatile and cautious,” PSBank President Jose Vicente L. Alde said.
He added that, “We are optimistic of the prospects ahead as we see considerable progress in the vaccination rollouts and the heightened adherence to safety protocols.”
“With customer and employee safety as our priority, we are committed to ensure that our contactless service platforms like the Mobile and Online banking are available 24/7, and robust with functionalities that allow them to do their banking transactions at home,” Alde said.
Recently, the Bank has enabled the real-time reloading of Autosweep and Easytrip Toll RFIDs through the PSBank Mobile App, and the payment of loans in all 7-Eleven convenience stores.