Despite an accelerated loan loss provisioning, Alfredo Yao's Philippine Business Bank managed to grow its net income by 15.4 percent to ₱590.0 million in the first quarter of 2025 from the ₱511.5 million earned in the same period last year on the back of higher margins.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the bank said its interest income rose by 14.2 percent year-on-year to ₱2.88 billion in the first three months of 2025 as net interest income grew 12.4 percent to ₱1.83 billion.
Core income reached ₱895.3 million, up 14.4 percent and pre-tax pre-provision profit rose by 24.5 percent to ₱908.7 million.
Total loans and receivables reached ₱122.8 billion as of the first quarter of 2025, up ₱10.7 billion YoY. Total resources stood at ₱160.8 billion as of end-March 2025. On the funding side, deposit liabilities were at ₱131.0 billion as of first quarter of 2025.
Annualized returns on assets and equity improved to 1.47 percent and 11.75 percent. The Bank’s capital adequacy ratio was 13.0 percent and minimum liquidity ratio at 23.8 percent at the end of the first quarter of 2025, above the adjusted statutory requirement of 10.0 percent and 20.0 percent, respectively.
“Philippine Business Bank started 2025 strong... Amidst the challenging business climate driven by the global economic tensions, the Bank maintained healthy interest margins.
“Net interest margin (NIM) stood at 4.64 percent as of March 2025, a 16 basis points increase from 4.48 percent in the same period last year,” said PBB Vice Chairman, President, and CEO Rolando Avante.
He noted that PBB’’s marketing efforts continued to focus on high-quality accounts, particularly existing clients and borrowers with a track record of sustainable earnings, and its rapidly growing teacher’s loans business.
“Strengthened collection policies, restructuring programs, and the usual focus on deepening relationships with our SME clients continue to be our primary objectives,” said Avante.
Taking a proactive risk mitigation stance, PBB accelerated its provisioning strategy by setting aside ₱175 million in loan loss provisions in the first quarter of 2025, more than triple the ₱50 million recorded in the same period last year.
“Even with the accelerated provisioning, PBB still generated higher net income YoY, had provisions remained at 2024 levels, net income would have grown by 34 percent,” he added.