Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. (Metrobank) of the Ty family is banking on improved consumer lending performance in the second half of 2025 to drive profitability, aided by a modest decline in bad loans.

Based on a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), consumer loans jumped by 15.3 percent, driven by an 18.2 percent increase in credit card receivables and a 17.8 percent rise in auto loans from a year ago.

Metrobank, in particular, reported strong growth in its car loan business, noting that, combined with PSBank, the group posted a 20 percent year-on-year increase. New acquisitions for car loans jumped 18 percent, while home loans grew eight percent, which the bank described as strong results.

When asked if Metrobank’s first-half performance would be sustained, consumer lending business head Peaches Cuenco told reporters on the sidelines of the bank’s Aug. 9 event that it would not only continue but also “exceed” current results.

Currently sharing 22 percent of the bank’s total loan portfolio, Cuenco said it aims to achieve higher figures.

“Every peso that you lend out gives you a bigger return compared to lending that same peso as a commercial loan. That’s why we want to get more consumer loans so that the returns for every peso will be bigger,” Cuenco noted.

Cuenco said non-performing loans (NPLs) or bad loans for its car and home financing remain low at about one percent to 1.2 percent, well below the industry peak of six percent, putting the bank in a strong position.

For the bank alone, a decline in NPLs for the rest of 2025 is projected to be not significant “because most of our programs for expansion into riskier segments will not yet happen this year.”

Loan approval rules are also being reviewed. “If we see that there are certain opportunities to loosen some criteria without blowing up our NPLs, then we will do that as a regular approach by next year.”

Cuenco said Metrobank, with 712 branches across the country, plans to forge more partnerships with real estate developers.

Metrobank earlier reported a 5.1-percent increase in first-half net income to ₱24.8 billion from ₱23.6 billion a year earlier. This was attributed to a surge in non-interest earnings from fees, trading, and foreign exchange (forex) gains.

Healthy loan expansion, recovering margins, and better cost efficiency were also cited as among the major drivers. Pre-provision operating profit in the first half of 2025 climbed 16.3 percent year-on-year to ₱39.1 billion.

Net interest income rose 3.4 percent to ₱60 billion in the first half of 2025 from ₱58 billion a year earlier, driven by sustained growth across business segments and a rebound in net interest margin (NIM).