Gotianun-led EastWest Bank reported nine-month net income totaling P3.75 billion, up 60 percent over the same period last year, which sustained the 60-percent growth posted in the first half this year.
Its net interest margin (NIM), or what is left after the interest it pays out for deposits and other services is deducted from its interest earnings, stood at an above-industry rate of 7.8 percent.
NIM, net of provisions for loan losses, a metric that makes comparison among banks more meaningful, stood at 6.1 percent.
The lender’s recurring earnings grew 24 percent to P18.0 billion as net interest income and fee-based income, excluding trading gains, rose 22 percent and 30 percent percent, respectively.
Total noninterest income grew 5 percent year-on-year, tempered by the 70-percent dip in profits from securities trading. Net revenues reached P18.4 billion, 17 percent higher year-on-year. Operating expenses were at P9.9 billion, and increased at a slightly slower pace of 16 percent.
“We are happy to note that our higher income is mainly due to improving productivity and lower loan-loss provisions. These two items more than offset the much lower trading revenues and the substantial increase in taxes even as our NPL loan loss coverage significantly improved,” EastWest President Bobby Reyes said.
Total assets grew 17 percent to P314.9 billion, driven by the growth in the bank’s loan portfolio.
Total loans increased 18 percent to P216.3 billion. Consumer loans, which grew 29 percent, account for 72 percent of total loans. Growth in consumer loans was led by the bank’s auto-loans business, which was also recently awarded Auto Loan Product of the Year at The Asian Banker Philippine Country Awards 2017.
Total deposits rose 19 percent to P257.1 billion. Low-cost deposits grew 23 percent.
“Our third quarter results prove that we are on the right track.
EastWest is a true retail bank whose strength lies in its core operations. As we had projected, we are enjoying the early fruits of our store network expansion, which enabled us to generate more deposits, which in turn allowed us to fund more loans and enhance our profitability,” Reyes added.
EastWest Bank has 446 stores nationwide.
EastWest reported a return on equity of 13.8 percent and a return on assets of 1.7 percent at the end of the period.
On income guidance, EastWest CEO Tony Moncupa Jr. said, “We are on track to end 2017 with a net income of P4.8 billion, or 41 percent higher, versus the P3.4 billion booked in 2016,” affirming the income guidance the bank gave earlier.