ASIA United Bank, the financial arm of the Rebisco Group, said net income in 2017 jumped 23 percent to P2.8 billion from a year ago, driven mainly by the strength in core businesses.
The bank said in a statement Wednesday the 2017 performance was consistent with the 21-percent growth in total assets to nearly P200 billion and the 23-percent growth of total deposits to P159 billion. AUB opened 10 additional branches, bringing its network nationwide to 249 branches.
Total loans increased 34 percent to P131.1 billion, allowing the AUB Group to book a net interest income of P6.5 billion, 15 percent higher than in 2016.
“We are confident that AUB will show accelerated growth on our core lending business as we cater to the needs of corporates and small and medium enterprises. We are making headways in the consumer market, particularly in credit cards, salary and pension loans,” bank president Manuel Gomez said in a statement.
To fuel its consumer market expansion, AUB recently relaunched its pioneering loan product, AUB CASHelp (Corporate Auto Salary Housing Employee Loan Program), as a one-stop consumer loan facility for accredited companies to help their employees seeking auto loan, housing loan, or mere cash assistance in times of need.
AUB’s IT platform has again demonstrated its leadership as it enabled AUB to become the first Philippine partner bank of WeChat Pay, the second largest mobile payment app in China. The partnership enables AUB to seize opportunities from the growing Chinese tourist arrivals in the country.
Gomez said AUB would subsequently achieve faster growth amid its relationships with accredited Philippine merchants.