The Ayala Group’s financial services arm, the 172-year-old Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), reported a 25.8 percent growth in its first quarter net income to a record P15.3 billion this year, equivalent to a return on equity of 15.7 percent and return on asset of 2.02 percent. 

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the bank attributed the solid performance to higher revenues, which more than offset the impact of higher operating expenses and provision for losses. 

Earnings per share for the first quarter stood at P2.90, an 18.1 percent increase from last year’s P2.46, reflecting the strong income growth and the increased number of outstanding shares arising from the merger with Robinsons Bank on January 1, 2024.

Total revenues for the quarter stood at P39.5 billion, up 24.6percent from the same period last year. This was driven by a 23.5 percent increase in net interest income to P29.8 billion, on the back of an 18.5percent increase in the average daily balance of loans and a 25-basis point increase in net interest margin to 4.19 percent. 

Non-interest income reached P9.7 billion, up 28.1 percent, driven by the underlying strength of the bank’s businesses led by insurance, credit cards and wealth management.

Total operating expenses for the quarter amounted to P18.0 billion, up 19.6 percent, driven by spending on manpower, technology, marketing campaigns, and transaction-related processing fees. 

Cost-to-income ratio further improved to 45.6 percent owing to robust revenue generation. Pre-provision operating profit increased by 29.2 percent.

Total assets grew by 14.7 percent to P3.1 trillion while gross loans stood at P2.0 trillion, up 18.7 percent from last year. Total deposits reached P2.4 trillion, up 12.8 percent, with CASA ratio at 64.8 percent and loan-to-deposit ratio at 84.0 percent.

Strong loan and deposit growth remained evident even after removing the loans and deposits that were acquired from the merger. 

Excluding the amount of loans and deposits brought in by Robinsons Bank on day one, loans grew 11.9 percent while deposits grew 6.0 percent. 

All loan segments posted strong growth, led by Personal Loans, Microfinance and Business Bank/SME at 147.4 percent, 57.2 percent, and 45.8 percent, respectively.

Notwithstanding the strong loan growth, asset quality remained well-managed with the NPL ratio at 2.12 percent and NPL cover at 136.20 percent.

The bank's total equity stood at P403.1 billion, with an indicative Common Equity Tier 1 Ratio at 14.7 percent and a Capital Adequacy Ratio of 15.6 percent, both well above regulatory requirements.