Security Bank Corp. said Wednesday it posted a net profit of P2.6 billion in the first quarter of 2024, reflecting the growth in its retail and MSME businesses.
It said that on a year-on-year basis, net profit grew 11 percent, as total revenues increased 27 percent to P12.5 billion.
Net interest income rose 44 percent to P10.7 billion, while non-interest income reached P1.8 billion. Service charges, fees and commissions surged 136 percent year-on-year to P3.1 billion, boosted by the Bancassurance milestone fee.
Excluding extraordinary items on both revenue and expense, which offset each other, normalized net income would be largely unchanged, it said.
The bank said that on a sequential quarter-on-quarter basis, net profit rose 71 percent, while total revenues increased 6 percent.
It said that with sustained investments in manpower and technology to accelerate transformation, operating expense increased 24 percent. The strong revenue performance led to a cost-to-income ratio of 60.7 percent, lower than 62.6 percent a year ago.
Pre-provision operating profit was P4.9 billion, up 34 percent year-on-year. The bank set aside P1.5 billion as provisions for credit losses, or 30 percent lower than the quarter-ago provisions of P2.2 billion.
Gross non-performing loan ratio was 3.4 percent and NPL reserve cover was 81 percent.
Return on shareholders’ equity increased to 7.71 percent from 7.42 percent a year ago. Return on assets also improved to 1.20 percent from 1.15 percent.
Total deposits rose 22 percent to P638 billion, with CASA deposits rising 6 percent year-on-year. CASA as percent of total deposits was at 56 percent.
Security Bank opened three branches in the first four months of 2024, bringing its branch network to 328.
Net loans increased 12 percent to P545 billion, with MSME loans accelerated 32 percent year-on-year.
