Bank of the Philippine Islands reported a 66 percent jump in net income to P39.6 billion last year, from the P23.88 billion in attributable profit earned in 2021, partly boosted by a property sale.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the bank said this was driven by strong loan growth, higher net interest margin and lower provisions, as well as a gain from a property sale in the second quarter.

Excluding the impact of the one-off gain from the property sale, net income stood at P35.9 billion, up 50.2 percent.

For the fourth quarter of the year, the Bank recorded net income of P9.1 billion, up 41.4 percent year on year and down 10.3 percent quarter on quarter, on higher revenue growth and also lower provisions recognized.

BPI generated record revenue of P118.5 billion, up 21.7 percent year-on-year, boosted by the 22.2 percent growth in net interest income to P85.1 billion, on the back of asset base expansion and improvement in net interest margin by 28 bps to 3.59 percent.

Non-interest income grew 20.3 percent to P33.5 billion, primarily from the one-off gain on the property sale, higher fees from the credit cards business and transaction banking services, as well as gains from foreign exchange transactions.

Total operating expenses stood at P58.0 billion, up 14.3 percent compared to the previous year, with all categories showing increases, led by technology and marketing.

The cost-to-income (CIR) ratio was 48.9 percent, but excluding the property sale, CIR would have been 51.1 percent.

The Bank booked provisions of P9.2 billion, a 30.2 percent reduction from last year. Asset quality continued to improve with the non-performing loan ratio declining to 1.76 percent, while the NPL coverage ratio rose to 180.1 percent as of the end of the year.

As of December 31, 2022, total loans stood at P1.7 trillion, up 15.3 percent from the previous year, led by growth in the credit card, corporate/SME and auto portfolios of 31.1 percent, 15.5 percent, and 14.0 percent, respectively.

Total deposits expanded to P2.1 trillion, up 7.2 percent year-on-year, while CASA (current accounts and savings accounts) increased 3.5 percent. The CASA Ratio stood at 74.4 percent and the Loan-to-Deposit Ratio at 81.2 percent.

Total assets reached P2.6 trillion, reflecting a 7.5 percent growth year-on-year. Total equity stood at P317.7 billion, with a Common Equity Tier 1 Ratio of 15.1 percent and a Capital Adequacy Ratio of 16.0 percent, both well above regulatory requirements.