Metropolitan Bank & Trust Company (Metrobank) reported a 45 percent jump in its net income to P23.4 billion in the first nine months of 2022 from a year ago.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the bank said profits were propelled by the continued expansion of its lending portfolio, better margins, healthy fee income, stable operating costs, and lower provisions.

Metrobank’s earnings surged by 77 percent to P7.8 billion in the third quarter, from the same period last year.

“We improved our profitability by taking on opportunities as the economy reopened while keeping our balance sheet strong and improving efficiency level,” said Metrobank President Fabian S. Dee.

He added that, “Our position of strength, and substantial reserves will enable us to continue on supporting our customers as they navigate the impact of the global external headwinds.”

“We will continue to focus on achieving a sustainable growth for the Bank beyond our 60th year,” noted Dee.

The Bank’s net interest income was up by 10 percent to P62.1 billion, with net interest margin further improving to 3.5 percent.

Its gross loans jumped by 12 percent year-on-year to P1.4 trillion, driven by a 15 percent growth in corporate and commercial lending and 22 percent increase in gross credit card receivables.

Total deposits also rose by 11 percent to P2 trillion as CASA (current account and savings account) deposits climbed by 5 percent to P1.5 trillion from a year ago.

Meanwhile, the Bank’s non-interest income was stable on the back of a 15 percent rise in fees and charges.

Operating expenses stayed in control at P44.5 billion supported by operational efficiency gains. As a result, cost-to-income ratio improved to 54.5 percent from the 59.0 percent posted in the same period last year.

The sustained rise in the Bank’s revenues and stable costs bolstered its pre-provisioning profit, which rose by 20 percent to P37.7 billion.

Non-performing loans (NPLs) remain manageable at 2.1 percent of total loans, still significantly below the industry’s 3.6 percent NPL ratio in August. Restructured loans improved to 0.5 percent of total loans, compared with the industry’s 2.7 percent.

Ample NPL cover of 172 percent enabled the Bank to further trim down provisions by 43 percent in the January to September period.

Metrobank is the country’s second largest private universal bank with consolidated assets of P2.7 trillion and total equity of P308.9 billion.