PHILIPPINE Savings Bank, the thrift banking unit of the Metrobank Group, registered a net profit of P2.7 billion in 2017, up 8.3 percent from P2.5 billion in 2016, driven primarily by the strong performance of net interest and fee-based incomes.
The bank said in a statement Friday net interest profit grew 14.6 percent, while fee-based income increased 19.9 percent.
“We are pleased to see that the results of our efforts in digitization and customer service are becoming evident with the year in and year out strong performance of our core business, making our growth stable and sustainable” PSBank president Vicente Cuna said.
Loan portfolio rose 13.3 percent to P146.3 billion from P129.2 billion in 2016. Auto and mortgage loans remained the main contributors for growth in consumer lending, while an increase in SME loans reinforced growth in commercial lending.
Despite the expansion of its loan portfolio, the bank managed to keep non-performing loans in check, with net NPL ratio at 1.2 percent as of end-2017.
Deposits increased 19.3 percent to P188.9 billion from P158.4 billion in 2016, with low-cost funds expanding 16.3 percent.
PSBank ended 2017 with P223.3 billion in total assets, up 13.4 percent on year. Total equity reached P22.4 billion, up 11.8 percent.
The bank’s Tier 1 and total capital adequacy ratios stood at 11.1 percent and 13.9 percent, respectively. Both are above the minimum requirement set by Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
Return on equity stood at 12.5 percent while earnings per share increased to P11.05 from P10.20 on year.
PSBank earlier received an issuer rating of PRS Aaa (Corp.) from Philippine Ratings Services Corp. (PhilRatings).
An issuer rating is an opinion on the general and overall creditworthiness of the issuer, evaluating its ability to meet all its financial obligations within a time horizon of one year. A PRS Aaa (Corp.) is the highest corporate credit rating assigned on the PRS scale.