United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB) posted a 12-percent growth in net income to P2.01 billion in the first half of the year, from P1.8 billion, as loans climbed by 15 percent to P153.37 billion, from P133.38 billion, according to its news release on Monday.
Car loans contributed the largest growth and helped expand net interest income by 16 percent to P5.47 billion, from P4.72 billion, in the same period last year.
Year-on-year growths also include total deposits rising 23 percent to P284.33 billion from P231.48 billion.
“UCPB continues to post significant growth in its core business in the first semester of 2017. We were able to expand our loan portfolio and even exceeded our year-to-date target.
The strong demand for financing coupled with our other initiatives, such as our strengthened relationships with partner dealers and agents, boosted the rise in consumer-loan availment. Our consumer, loan portfolio was funded by low-cost deposits that we continued to build this year,” UCPB President and CEO Higinio O. Macadaeg Jr. said.
Results in noninterest income, which includes stock investments and government funds, revealed downward performances that the lender attributed to narrowed market opportunities and slowed government lending.
“The lack of prevailing market opportunities, however, caused the non interest income to slip by 15 percent to P1.18 billion, from P1.39 billion. Treasury gains [also] declined by 27 percent to P427.04 million,” UCPB said.
However, UCPB fairly managed its expenses with unchanged operation costs at 9 percent.
Despite the less impressive figures, UCPB sees the expansive loan portfolio and deposits as the bank’s catapult to positive growth and targets in the second half of the year.
“Our performance for the first six months of the year reinforces our optimism that we will be able to hit our target for the year,” Macadaeg said.