Bank of the Philippine Islands reported a 59.6 percent jump in net income to P8.0 billion for the first quarter of 2022 compared to the same period last year.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the bank said its strong performance was attributable to higher net interest income, lower loss provisions, and normalized tax expenses, after last year’s one-time tax adjustments upon effectivity of the CREATE law.
Total revenues for the first three months of the year increased by 4.3 percent to P25.4 billion driven by the jump in net interest income of 12.7 percent to P19.0 billion, on the back of an 11 basis point expansion in net interest margin to 3.42 percent.
On the other hand, non-interest income decreased by 14.5 percent to P6.4 billion, owing to lower securities trading gains, service charges, bank commissions, and underwriting fees.
This was tempered by the notable year-on-year rebound in foreign exchange trading gains by 2.2 times to P702.1 million.
Total operating expenses for the first quarter was P12.6 billion, higher by 6.5 percent compared to the previous year due to broad increases in all cost categories as the volume of transactions picked up, given the economic reopening and relaxed mobility restrictions.
The Bank recognized provisions of P2.5 billion as of March 31, 2022, a 30.6 percent reduction from the P3.6 billion booked over the same period last year. Non-performing loan ratio improved to 2.38 percent from 2.49 percent in December 2021. NPL Coverage Ratio stood at 149.6 percent.
Total loans as of March 31, 2022 was P1.5 trillion, a 7.1 percent boost year-on-year, due to higher loan volumes across the board, led by growth in the corporate, mortgage, and credit card portfolios of 7.7 percent, 6.6 percent, and 12.2 percent, respectively.
Total deposits also grew year-on-year to P1.9 trillion, up 13.1 percent, with CASA and time deposits posting increases of 10.9 percent and 23.3 percent, respectively. The Bank’s CASA Ratio was 81.0 percent, while the Loan-to-Deposit Ratio was 77.3 percent.
Total assets reached P2.4 trillion, up 9.88 percent versus the same period last year. Total equity stood at P300.0 billion, with an indicative Common Equity Tier 1 Ratio of 16.2 percent and a Capital Adequacy Ratio of 17.0 percent, both above regulatory requirements.