Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., a member of the Yuchengco Group of Companies, said Monday unaudited consolidated net income grew 33 percent in the first nine months to P5.3 billion from a year ago on the strength of core businesses.
RCBC said in a statement business momentum continued to accelerate with strong double-digit growth of 13 percent in customer loans and 30 percent in low-cost CASA deposits, both metrics performing better than the industry.
Investment securities jumped 2.9 times, and fee income increased by 39 percent, reflecting stable recovery in investments and retail transactions.
RCBC saw significant expansion in loan book across segments, led by the corporate loan portfolio growing by 17 percent and the SME portfolio by 18 percent.
The bank supported working capital requirements and continued to participate in project finance transactions for renewable energy projects in the country and the Southeast Asian Region.
Higher volume of loan and treasury assets, coupled with lower funding costs, propelled net interest income to reach P21.2 billion, higher by 8 percent year-on-year.
Fee income was boosted by a combination of investment banking fees and retail transactions related to payments and loans. Core business is leading the uplift in gross income which increased by 13 percent year-on-year to P26 billion, net of trading and FX gains.
RCBC president and chief executive Eugene Acevedo said the bank’s digital transformation across several business lines accelerated customer acquisition and improved cost efficiency.
Data analytics helped drive growth for the credit card business with a 68-percent increase in new cards issued, bringing the total cards-in-force to nearly 910,000 as of end-September.
The most recent service offering on the digital platform is the unit investment trust fund, including the new RCBC US Equity Index Feeder Fund, which boosted trust assets under management to reach a record high of P134 billion.
"We are excited to further bring fintech innovation across all product lines, as we see a rapid shift in the trajectory of financial services even beyond the pandemic,” Acevedo said.
Total assets increased by 19 percent to P873 billion, with loans and receivables and investment securities comprising 60 percent and 22 percent of the total, respectively. The growth was supported by the 26-percent rise in total deposits, and the 10-percent expansion in capital funds with solid capital ratios—CAR of 15.2 percent and CET1 ratio of 12.1 percent.
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. infused capital and acquired a 4.99-percent stake in RCBC in July. Annualized return on equity stood at 6.8 percent and annualized return on assets at 0.9 percent.
RCBC had consolidated network of 434 branches, 1,254 automated teller machines and 1,555 ATM Go terminals strategically located nationwide as of end-September.
