Philippine banks post record ₱403-billion profit in 2025 on strong interest, fee income
By Derco Rosal
At A Glance
- Higher interest and non-interest incomes lifted the Philippine banking industry's full-year earnings for 2025 to ₱403.1 billion, up three percent from ₱391.3 billion in 2024.
Higher interest and non-interest income lifted the Philippine banking industry’s full-year earnings for 2025 to ₱403.1 billion, up three percent from ₱391.3 billion in 2024.
This net income represents a record high for the industry, surpassing all previous annual totals.
The latest data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed that banks’ cumulative net interest income rose 11.1 percent to ₱1.15 trillion as of end-2025, from ₱1.04 trillion a year earlier. This income represents the difference between interest earned and interest expenses, as well as provisions for losses on accrued interest from financial assets.
Banks’ non-interest income grew 9.9 percent to ₱256.9 billion from ₱233.7 billion in 2024. This includes fees and commissions, trading gains, foreign exchange (forex) profits, and other similar sources.
As of end-December 2025, the banking system’s total operating income climbed 10.9 percent to ₱1.41 trillion, up from ₱1.27 trillion in the previous year.
Banks’ non-interest expenses increased 10.1 percent to ₱784.3 billion from ₱712.4 billion a year earlier. These cover compensation and fringe 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 ₱159.7 billion during the period, up 51.1 percent from ₱105.6 billion in 2024. Provisions for credit losses also surged 55.5 percent to ₱184.7 billion from ₱118.8 billion the previous year.
BSP data showed that bad debts written off reached ₱5.1 billion as of end-2025, up 52.2 percent from ₱3.3 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 82.8 percent to ₱30.1 billion from ₱16.5 billion in 2024. These refer to recoveries from previously written-off financial assets or those with allowances for credit losses.