Philippine banks earn ₱300 billion on stronger lending, fees
By Derco Rosal
The local banking industry’s total earnings climbed in the first three quarters of the year, driven by the sharp increase in income generated from both core lending activities and fee-based businesses, despite higher provisioning for future losses.
Data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed that higher interest and non-interest incomes increased Philippine banks’ earnings by 3.6 percent in January to September to ₱300.4 billion from ₱290.1 billion in the same period last year.
At end-September, banks’ cumulative net interest income rose 11 percent to ₱851.5 billion, from ₱767 billion a year earlier.
This income represents the difference between interest earned and the total provisions for losses on accrued interest from financial assets, along with interest expenses.
Banks’ non-interest income grew 7.7 percent to ₱185.1 billion from ₱171.9 billion last year. This includes fees, gains from financial assets and liabilities, foreign exchange profits, and other similar sources.
As of end-September, the banking system’s operating income climbed 10.8 percent to ₱1.04 trillion, from ₱939 billion in the same period last year.
Banks’ non-interest expenses increased 9.9 percent to ₱573.2 billion from ₱521.5 billion a year ago. These cover compensation and benefits, taxes and licenses, fees and commissions, as well as impairment losses and provisions.
Meanwhile, the banking sector’s total losses on financial assets reached ₱115.1 billion during the period, representing a 51.1 percent increase from ₱76.2 billion the previous year.
Provisions for credit losses also surged 56.8 percent to ₱134.4 billion from ₱85.7 billion in 2024.
Bad debts written off reached ₱3.2 billion as of June, up 39.1 percent from ₱2.3 billion a year earlier. Writing off bad debts such as non-performing or soured loans allows banks to clean up their balance sheets by removing uncollectible accounts.
Recoveries on charged-off assets jumped 90.7 percent to ₱22.5 billion from ₱11.8 billion a year earlier. These refer to recoveries from previously written-off financial assets or those with allowances for credit losses.
As of end-September, the banking system’s total assets increased 3.7 percent to ₱28.76 trillion from ₱27.73 trillion in August.