ASIA United Bank, the financial unit of the Rebisco Group of Companies, said unaudited consolidated net income in the first nine months of the year rose 19 percent to P2.2 billion from P1.8 billion year-on-year.
“Amid the volatility in the financial markets, the AUB Group was able to sustain its double-digit growth by ramping up lending activities and generating deposits from its branch network nationwide,” the bank said in a statement Monday.
The AUB Group, composed of publicly listed universal bank AUB and two rural bank units, booked higher loans of P116.2 billion in loans and receivables, 21.3 percent more than the P95.8 billion a year ago.
As a result, interest income from loans rose 15.8 percent to nearly P5 billion as of end-September 2017. Assets jumped 26 percent to P198 billion on year.
Net interest income increased 15 percent to P4.8 billion from P4.2 billion on year despite the sluggish growth in trading and investment securities during the globally volatile period.
Meanwhile, AUB generated P158.6 billion in deposits during the quarter, up 31 percent from P121.5 billion a year ago.
The group reached out to more customers through its consolidated distribution network of 250 branches, including those of its subsidiaries, the Rural Bank of Pampanga, and thrift bank arm Cavite United Rural Bank.
“We will continue to pursue our ambition to become one of the top 10 banks in the Philippines even under a new leadership,” bank president Abraham Co said in a statement, who will relinquish his post as AUB president and become the bank’s chairman effective Jan. 1, 2018.
Incumbent chairman Jacinto Ng Sr., who founded the bank 20 years ago with some Asian partners, will become AUB’s chairman emeritus.
AUB was formed by Filipino industrialists and Taiwanese banks, namely Republic Biscuit Corp., Lambda Holdings, China United Trust & Investment Corp., China Development Industrial Bank, Magis Equity Ventures, and a few individuals.
The Monetary Board of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas on Sept. 25, 1997 granted the bank a license to operate as a commercial bank. Operations started on Oct. 31, 1997.