Metrobank posted 60% rise in income to P22.2b last year

Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co., the second-largest lender in terms of assets, said Thursday net income in 2021 jumped 60 percent year-on-year to P22.2 billion on the strength of core businesses and despite the lingering global health crisis.

Metrobank said in a disclosure to the stock exchange earnings more than doubled to P6.0 billion in the fourth quarter of 2021, boosted by the decline in provisions as the loan portfolio stayed healthy.

“Robust fees and other income as well as lower operating expenses further drove strong earnings performance,” it said.

The bank said with solid capital base and better profitability, its board of directors approved a new dividend policy of increasing the regular cash dividends from P1.00 to P1.60 per share for the year, payable on a semi-annual basis at P0.80 per share.

A special cash dividend of P1.40 per share was also declared for a total of P3.00 per share for the year.

Metrobank president Fabian Dee said the positive performance in 2021 validated the bank’s strategies of fortifying its balance sheet and proactive provisioning during the pandemic.

“The bank has emerged stronger and well-prepared to meet the needs of our stakeholders as the economy moves towards full recovery,” Dee said.

Operating income reached P101.4 billion in 2021. Net interest margin has stabilized at 3.4 percent since the second quarter of 2021. The sequential quarterly recovery in corporate and credit card loans has likewise been sustained, reflecting improving business and consumer confidence.

The 12-percent increase in low-cost current and savings accounts to P1.5 trillion continued to help trim overall funding cost. Julito G. Rada

Fees and other non-interest income increased 27 percent to P21.1 billion in 2021 on the back of higher transaction volumes and cross selling strategies, which mitigated lower trading income.

Efforts to improve efficiencies continue to pay off as operating costs were kept under control at P59.5 billion.

Despite the challenging conditions in 2021, non-performing loans declined by 12 percent year-on-year, with NPL ratio easing to 2.2 percent in 2021 from 2.4 percent in 2020. NPL cover further improved to 174.7 percent from 163.0 percent in 2020.

Metrobank ended 2021 as the country’s second largest private universal bank with consolidated assets of P2.5 trillion and total equity of P318.5 billion. The bank’s capital ratios are still among the highest in the industry.

Based on December 2021 balance sheet, Metrobank’s capital adequacy ratio is estimated to move from 20.1 percent to 19.3 percent and common equity tier 1 ratio from 19.3 percent to 18.4 percent after dividends.

Both measures are still substantially higher than the 11.0 percent minimum regulatory threshold for CET1 and 10.0 percent for CAR.