BANK of Commerce, a unit of diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC), said net income in the first nine months reached a record P2 billion, outperforming the full-year 2022 profit of ₽1.8 billion by 12 percent.
In a statement Tuesday, BankCom said the three-quarter result was also 35 percent higher than the ₽1.49-billion net income in the same nine-month period last year. This translated into a return on equity of 9.27 percent.
“Sustained growth in the bank’s core revenue streams, higher interest margins and growth in fee-based income [investment banking, credit card, trust, and trade finance] were the main drivers of the solid performance,” it said.
Gross revenues rose 25 percent to ₽7.30 billion from ₽5.82 billion in 2022.
Net interest income increased by 26 percent to ₽6.08 billion from ₽4.82 billion last year.
Total loans and receivables grew 6 percent year-on-year to ₽111.58 billion.
The bank’s capital adequacy remained strong at 19.18 percent.
Net profit stood at P423.91 million in the third quarter, lower than a quarter ago due to some non-recurring deals and an increase in expenses related to new IT initiatives and compensation.
Net interest income increased by 23 percent to ₽2.13 billion in the third quarter.
Total revenues surged to ₽7.30 billion during the nine months period, 25 percent up from the ₽5.82 billion posted last year, due to the growth in net interest income and service charges, fees, and commissions.
The bank maintains a conservative stance by setting aside ₽222.43 million as provision for credit and impairment losses. NPL coverage ratio was at 97.88 percent.
Total assets as of Sept. 30, 2023 rose 3 percent to ₽224.31 billion from ₽217.52 billion as of Dec. 31, 2022, translating to a return on assets of 1.21 percent.
Total loans and receivables, comprising almost 50 percent of total assets, increased by 6 percent to ₽111.58 billion due to sustained booking of corporate loans. The robust growth in loans resulted in an increase in the loan- to-deposit ratio to 75 percent.
The Bank traces its origins to the Overseas Bank of Manila, established in Binondo, Manila in 1963. In December 2020, the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) granted the copyright license for “BankCom” as the bank’s official short name.
It is a listed universal bank that provides a wide range of financial products and services: deposits, cash management/solutions, payments, lending, asset management, bancassurance, investment banking, foreign exchange and securities trading.
The Bank has a network of 140 branches at end September 2023.
