METROPOLITAN Bank & Trust Co., the second-largest lender in terms of assets, will declare a 5-percent cash dividend to stockholders after sustaining growth momentum in 2017.
Metrobank said in a disclosure to the stock exchange Thursday its board of directors approved the declaration of cash dividend in an earlier meeting.
“This is to inform the exchange that the board of directors of Metrobank approved the declaration of a 5-percent regular cash dividend to be paid to all stockholders as of March 8, 2018 record date, with March 16, 2018 as the payment date,” it said.
It said the source of the cash dividend payment was the “unrestricted retained earnings as of Dec. 31, 2017.”
Metrobank in 2017 posted a consolidated net income of P18.2 billion, almost unchanged from P18.1 billion a year ago.
Metrobank president Fabian Dee said in a statement the strength of deposit franchise continued to support loan growth, particularly in the commercial space as the bank helped finance the expansion plans of its customers.
“Our momentum continues to build up, and we are well-positioned to accelerate our growth plans moving forward,” Dee said.
Total resources reached a new high of P2.1 trillion. Metrobank ended the year with total deposits of P1.5 trillion, with low-cost deposits increasing 12 percent to P950 billion for a 62-percent CASA ratio.
This provided the stable low-cost funding to fuel its healthy loan expansion. Sustaining the momentum from previous quarters, the loan portfolio expanded 19 percent year-on-year to hit P1.3 trillion.
The commercial segment, mainly the middle market and small and medium enterprises, led the growth with 20 percent, while consumer loans increased 17 percent.
Metrobank’s net interest margin has been steadily moving up to 3.75 percent or 21 basis points higher from last year, mainly driven by improving asset yields. As a result, net interest income increased 16 percent to P61.4 billion, accounting for 73 percent of the bank’s P83.6 billion total operating income.
Meanwhile, non-interest income reached P22.1 billion, consisting of P12.4 billion in service charges and commissions and income from trust, P3.9 billion from trading and FX gains, and miscellaneous income of P5.9 billion.