Security Bank posted P1.6-billion income in Q1

Security Bank Corp., the country’s eighth largest private lender, said Friday it posted net profit of P1.6 billion in the first quarter, as the passage of the CREATE law triggered a one-time P 1.2-billion charge for deferred tax assets.

Profit before tax was P3.3 billion, up 42 percent from the same period last year.

Total net interest income declined 18 percent in the first quarter to P6.6 billion.  Net interest margin decreased 29 basis points year-on-year to 4.39 percent.

Total non-interest income went down by 58 percent to P2.1 billion. Securities trading gains were P689 million, or 80 percent lower than P3.5 billion a year ago. Service charges, fees and commissions rose 1 percent to P1.1 billion, with bancassurance, credit card, stockbrokerage and miscellaneous fees increasing from year-ago levels.

Operating expense decreased 3 percent from the same period last year. The cost-to-income ratio was 57.6 percent.

Security Bank set aside P402 million as provisions for credit losses in the first quarter, 93 percent lower than P5.7 billion a year earlier.

Gross non-performing loan ratio decreased to 3.41 percent from 3.90 percent a quarter ago. NPL reserve cover was 118 percent, up from 115 percent a quarter ago. 

Return on shareholders’ equity was 5.38 percent.

The bank said low-cost savings and demand deposits increased 12 percent from year-ago level. High-cost deposits decreased 5 percent. Total deposits increased 3 percent year-on-year to P519 billion.

Gross loans went down 5 percent to P450 billion. Gross retail loans decreased 12 percent year-on-year and accounted for 25 percent of total loans, while wholesale loans decreased 2 percent.

Security Bank continues to be among the country’s best capitalized private domestic universal banks, with common equity tier 1 ratio of 19.2 percent and total capital adequacy ratio of 20.1 percent.

“Our team’s focus on clients remains steadfast. We are hopeful that progress on vaccination in the coming quarters will help the country resume its growth trajectory.  We are fortunate that our strong capital equips the Bank to support clients directly through loans and indirectly through significant investments in both our team and our technology to improve customer experience,” said Security Bank president and chief executive Sanjiv Vohra.