By James A. Loyola Philippine Business Bank reported a 57 percent surge in net income to ₱394.4 million in the first quarter of 2020 from the ₱251.0 million in the same period last year. In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the bank said its interest income expanded 20.5 percent to ₱1.92 billion from ₱1.6 billion in 2019. Core income grew 111 percent to ₱693.6 million from ₱329.1 million, YoY. Pre-tax pre-provision profit rose to ₱695.9 million, up 63.7 percent. Profit before tax also expanded by 55.9 percent to ₱545.9 million versus ₱350.1 million in 2019. Total loans and receivables grew to ₱85.6 billion as of March 2020. Total resources reached ₱110.6 billion in 2020 from ₱94.7 billion in 2019, a 16.9 percent growth YoY. On the funding side, deposit liabilities increased to ₱90.1 billion at the end of March 2020. Low-cost funds grew 33.0 percent, while time deposits reached ₱47.7 billion. Management of the Bank’s deposit portfolio improved deposit mix from 41:59 to 47:53 low-cost to high-cost ratio. Net interest margin also improved to 5.21 percent in the first quarter of 2020 against last year’s 4.17 percent, a 104 basis point increase. “The start of 2020 has been challenging given the Taal volcano eruption and the global COVID-19 pandemic. The Bank showed good year over year growth in core income and net income,” said PBB Vice Chairman and President Roland Avante. He added that, “opportune conditions in the treasury business will likely continue for some time in the first half.” However, Avante said “The Bank is prepared to face trials brought about by the disruption. 
We have doubled our provisioning from the same period last year. We are also undertaking an extensive review of our balance sheet to ensure that we have a complete view and thorough understanding of the operations of our clients.”