Philippine Saving Bank (PSBank), the consumer and retail banking arm of the Metrobank Group, has maintained the highest Issuer Credit Rating of PRS Aaa (corp.), with a Stable Outlook, from Philippine Rating Services Corporation (PhilRatings).
A company rated PRS Aaa (corp.) has a very strong capacity to meet its financial commitments relative to that of other Philippine corporates. A Stable Outlook means the rating is likely to be unchanged in the next 12 months.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, PS Bank said PhilRatings assigned the triple-A rating because of the bank’s strong market position, its sound capitalization and improved asset quality, and the bank’s strong Parent and highly‐experienced management team.
It also took into consideration the positive outlook for the bank's major market, notwithstanding relatively high inflation and interest rates.
As of March 31, 2023, PSBank was the largest thrift bank in the Philippines based on data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). PSBank ended the period with total assets of P254.3 billion.
The bank likewise took the top spot among thrift banks in terms of deposits (P209.8 billion), net loans (P122.7 billion), and capital (P36.3 billion). PSBank held significant shares in the auto loans and real estate loans in the thrift banking sector.
According to the data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), year‐to‐date inflation rate for the first half of 2023 was at 7.2 percent, higher than the government’s target inflation rate of 2.0 percent to 4.0 percent in 2023.
In an effort to curb rising prices, the BSP had implemented an increase of a total of 75 bps in 2023, which raised the benchmark rate to 6.25 percent.
Despite these conditions, the auto industry remained robust. In the first half of 2023, the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (CAMPI) and the Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) reported that total car sales in the country grew by 30.7 percent, showing a positive outlook for the bank's major market.