UnionBank President and CEO Ana Aboitiz Delgado

Aboitiz-led UnionBank of the Philippines reported a 17-percent drop in net income to ₱10 billion last year from the ₱12.03 billion earned in 2024 due to higher provisions and lower trading and miscellaneous gains.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) on Monday, March 2, the bank said it rallied in the second half, with earnings more than doubling, up 108 percent compared with the first half.

Performance was driven primarily by the parent bank, including the acquired Citi consumer business, which continued to gain momentum during the year.

“In 2025, we took deliberate steps to strengthen our balance sheet and lay the foundation for profitable, sustainable growth,” said UnionBank President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ana Aboitiz Delgado.

She noted that, “Building on the strength of our core franchise, we are doubling down on our key competitive advantages in 2026. We expect continued improvement in topline growth and net interest margin (NIM), supported by an expanding customer base and a growing stream of recurring revenues.

“As we move into 2026, our focus remains on disciplined growth, customer-centric innovation, and delivering long-term value for our shareholders.”

Record topline revenues at the parent bank helped offset one-time costs, largely booked at the subsidiary level, as the bank took decisive actions to clean up and strengthen its balance sheet and position it for future growth.

The bank’s net revenues continued their upward trend, reaching ₱83.2 billion in 2025 from ₱79.5 billion in 2024, underscoring the strength of UnionBank’s core businesses.

This growth was supported by an expanding customer franchise, with total customers rising to 18.6 million, up 9.7 percent year-on-year.

The parent bank’s unsecured consumer loans grew by 18 percent to ₱150.8 billion, driven by digital acquisition and cross-selling initiatives.

Consumer loans accounted for 61 percent of the bank’s total loan portfolio, well diversified across credit cards, mortgage loans, personal and salary loans, and vehicle loans.

Transaction banking volumes also increased during the year, contributing to a 12-percent year-on-year growth in low-cost current account and savings account (CASA) deposits. This improvement in the funding mix helped reduce overall funding costs and supported margin expansion.

Net interest income improved 10 percent to ₱64.2 billion in 2025 from ₱58 billion in 2024, while NIM improved by 46 basis points (bps) to 6.4 percent.

Fee income remained robust, with the fee income-to-assets ratio at 1.3 percent, more than twice the industry average. Fee growth was driven by higher digital transaction volumes, including bills payments, fund transfers, interchange, and other card-related fees across the bank’s larger and more engaged customer base.

Gains on trading and investment securities declined to ₱1.15 billion from ₱1.54 billion, while miscellaneous income fell to ₱2.52 billion from ₱4.49 billion.

Operating expenses (opex) totaled ₱47.9 billion, growing eight percent year-on-year. Excluding one-time items, total cost growth would have been five percent.

This reflects the bank’s disciplined efforts to drive cost efficiency and realize the benefits of its digitization initiatives.

Credit costs rose by 18 percent year-on-year to ₱21.2 billion; however, asset quality indicators improved over the course of the year.

The non-performing loan (NPL) ratio declined by 37 bps to 6.8 percent, while provision coverage increased from 58.2 percent to 70.8 percent, with unsecured loans more than fully covered. Provisions for credit losses rose to ₱21.16 billion from ₱17.91 billion.