GOTIANUN-led East West Banking Corp. (PSE: EW) saw a 42-percent increase in its net income in 2022 as it was able to increase its consumer loans.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) last Monday, EW said its loans grew by 20 percent driven by credit cards, business loans and key salary loan segments.
Total deposits were steady at P329.2 billion with CASA ratio improving to 79 percent from the previous year’s 75 percent, according to the country’s 11th-largest lender by assets.
“We accelerated our loan bookings in the second half across all lending products which improved our earning capacity back to pre-pandemic levels. We intend to exceed this in 2023, as we carry on the momentum from last year,” EW President Jacqueline S. Fernandez said.
The bank also grew its core revenues by 12 percent to P28.1 billion in 2022 while its total assets reached P421.4 billion driven by its shift “towards higher yielding consumer lending assets.”
Meanwhile, EW also invested on IT systems to help improve its digital services and prime it for faster digital innovations, increasing its operating expenses by 3 percent to P17 billion.
Its capital ratios continue to stand at a healthy 13.8 percent and 13 percent for Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) and Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio, respectively, well above the regulatory requirements.
“The full year impact of our 2022 asset build-up will be felt this year on our core income performance. The growth momentum should improve this further as we exceed pre-pandemic asset levels this year,” EW CEO Jerry G. Ngo said.
“Though we expect some headwinds particularly from the higher interest rate environment, the country’s growth prospects remain intact. We believe that EW is at the right place and at the right time, as we partner with our customers to rebuild and grow together,” Ngo added.
EW, a Filipino-owned universal bank, is a subsidiary of Filinvest Development Corp., one of the country’s leading conglomerates with a diverse range of interests including real estate, banking, hospitality and tourism, infrastructure power generation and sugar.
Image credits: EastWest Bank/Facebook