China Banking Corp. (Chinabank), one of the two banking units of the SM Group, posted an 11-percent increase in net income to ₱14.5 billion in the first half of 2026 as it continued to deliver robust growth despite the challenging operating environment.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) on Thursday, Aug. 6, Chinabank said its bottom-line growth was driven by the expansion of its core lending business, strong balance sheet growth, and the optimization of risk cushions given the healthy condition of its loan book. Return on equity stood at 15.1 percent, while return on assets was 1.6 percent.

Net interest income increased by 14 percent to ₱39.7 billion as net interest margin (NIM) expanded to 4.67 percent, while gross loans grew by 17 percent to ₱1.1 trillion on strong demand across the corporate and consumer segments.

Operating expenses (opex) related to business expansion rose by 11 percent to ₱18.4 billion. The cost-to-income ratio settled at 50 percent.

Despite posting an improved non-performing loan (NPL) ratio of 1.5 percent, Chinabank remained conservative and recognized ₱1.2 billion in impairment and credit loss provisions, resulting in a more-than-adequate NPL coverage ratio of 106 percent.

“This entire growth story is anchored by the sustained expansion of the bank’s balance sheet, with total assets growing 13 percent year-on-year to ₱1.9 trillion—still the fourth largest among the private universal banks in the country,” the bank said.

Total deposits reached ₱1.5 trillion, up 14 percent, with growth underpinned by a 20-percent increase in low-cost checking and savings accounts (CASA) to ₱750 billion. This improved the bank’s CASA ratio to 49 percent and lowered its overall cost of funds.

Total equity climbed 11 percent to ₱192 billion, translating to an 11-percent increase in book value per share to ₱71.46. The bank also maintained a robust capital adequacy ratio (CAR) of 15.6 percent and common equity tier 1 (CET1) ratio of 14.7 percent. - James A. Loyola