Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. (Metrobank) announced a record ₱37.3 billion in net earnings in the first nine months of the year, a 4.3 percent increase from 2024, driven by strong loan growth, improved margins, and healthy trading income.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the bank said its pre-provision operating profit in the first nine months of 2025 grew 12.1 percent year-on-year to ₱59.2 billion.

“Our prudent approach in expanding our core businesses continued to support our performance in the first nine months. We’re confident that the Philippines’ long-term growth story remains strong," said Metrobank President Fabian S. Dee.

He added that, “We continue to be committed in helping our clients seize opportunities for growth as we navigate together any challenges and uncertainties on our journey ahead.”

The Bank’s net interest income increased by 7.1 percent to ₱91.8 billion in the first nine months of the year, owing to broad-based gains across business segments and sustained quarterly margin improvement.

Gross loans expanded by 10.8 percent year-on-year to ₱1.9 trillion, with consumer loans rising by 15.8 percent. Institutional loans likewise rose by 9.5 percent.

Meanwhile, total deposits amounted to ₱2.5 trillion, up 7.6 percent year-on-year, of which ₱1.5 trillion are low-cost current and savings accounts (CASA). The loan-to-deposit ratio of 76.6 percent reflects an ample capacity to support client funding needs.

Non-interest income grew 5.3 percent to ₱25.4 billion during the first nine months, driven by steady growth in service fees and trust income.

Trading and foreign exchange gains grew by 18 percent to ₱6.6 billion, driven by continued growth in customer flows and effective management of the investment securities portfolio.

Operating cost growth was well contained, rising by just 1.7 percent year-on-year. Consequently, the cost-to-income ratio fell to 49.8 percent from 52.2 percent in the first nine months of 2024.

Asset quality continued to fare better than industry, with non-performing loans’ (NPL) ratio coming in at 1.7 percent, far lower than the industry’s reported 3.6 percent NPL ratio as of August 2025.

Year-to-date provisions stood at ₱8.7 billion, maintaining a high NPL cover of 147.4 percent, a hefty buffer against rising uncertainties.

Alongside this, the Bank remains well-capitalized, with Capital Adequacy Ratio at 17.0 percent and Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio at 16.3 percent, well above the minimum regulatory requirements.

The Bank’s total consolidated assets increased by 8.9 percent to ₱3.6 trillion, solidifying its position as the second largest private universal bank in the country. Total equity climbed by 7.2 percent to ₱407.6 billion.