Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., the 10th largest lender in terms of assets, said unaudited consolidated net income in the first quarter rose 15 percent to P1.3 billion from P1.1 billion year-on-year on the strength of core businesses.
Net interest income increased 10 percent, while fee-based income grew 31 percent.
“We have continued to build on balance sheet strength, with assets of P665 billion supported by P83 billion of capital, as we focus on growing our business,” bank president and chief executive Gil Buenaventura said in a statement.
He said the strategy of building on its core business led to a growth in net interest income of 10 percent to P5.3 billion in the first quarter of 2019.
Horacio Cebrero III, senior executive vice president and head of treasury group, said in a briefing in Makati on Wednesday the bank’s net profit was in line with the industry. “We see more opportunities going forward for improvement,” he said.
Loans to small and medium enterprises rose 12 percent to P53.8 billion. Unit Rizal Microbank improved its loans to micro and small business enterprises by 20 percent from a year-ago to P1 billion.
Loans to consumers, which includes mortgage loans, automobile loans, and credit cards, increased 12 percent to P106.9 billion. Gross outstanding credit card receivables climbed 31 percent to P22.3 billion for the quarter with an active card base of 733,000, up by 22 percent year on year.
Non-interest income in the quarter jumped 71 percent to P2.9 billion, mainly coming from stronger contributions in treasury-related and fee-based income.
RCBC booked P1.4 billion in trading and FX gains and P1.1 billion in fee-based income, which includes card-related fees, both credit and debit cards.
Total operating expenses rose 13 percent to P5.2 billion in the first quarter due to the significant growth in volume of business as gross revenues jumped 26 percent on year.
Total resources rose 14 percent to P664.7 billion. Total deposits grew P21.4 billion on year to P416 billion with CASA reaching P229.2 billion, higher than the end-March 2018 level of P220 billion. With AFP
