Union Bank of the Philippines said Monday net income rose 46 percent to P2.6 billion in the second quarter of the year from P1.78 billion year-on-year, driven by double-digit growth in net interest income and lower operating expenses.
Net profit in the first six months of the year increased 2 percent to P4.8 billion, as the bank sustained the growth of earning assets despite lower margins and strategic investment in its digital transformation.
“The continuous improvement of our margins contributed to our strong topline results. OpEx growth was also kept manageable amid the integration of PR Savings Bank with CitySavings and continued investments in digital transformation,” said Jose Emmanuel Hilado, UnionBank treasurer and chief financial officer.
“We are optimistic that we can sustain this momentum for the rest of the year, with potential upsides to our margins, as interest rates start to normalize. We are clearly seeing the fruits of our transformation push. Our improved efficiencies enabled us to onboard more retail customers into our platforms. We were able to manage expenses without slowing down on our strategic initiatives,” he added.
Higher fee income from consumer businesses and securities trading gains also contributed to the improved bottom line in the first half of 2019.
Profitability and efficiency ratios were above industry and better than last year’s, with return on equity at 10.6 percent, return on assets at 1.4 percent and revenue-to-expense ratio at 1.7x.
UnionBank’s total assets as of end June this year stood at P704.5 billion, higher by 13 percent year-on-year.
Customer loans amounted to P328.3 billion, with credit cards (+39 percent year-on-year), consumer business (+31 percent year-on-year), and commercial loans (+16 percent year-on-year) driving the portfolio growth.
