Union Bank of the Philippines of the Aboitiz Group has set aside P5 billion as capital expenditures this year.
The amount will be used to finance the migration of the acquired Citi consumer banking business as well as the continued enhancements of its digital channels and feature builds to accelerate its aspiration of becoming a leading consumer bank.
“As the group’s banking business continues to lead the industry in innovation, it doubles down on its digital transformation,” the Aboitiz Group said in a statement.
The net income of UnionBank proved steady at P12.7 billion last year as revenues grew 16 percent to a record high of P52.2 billion from P45.1 billion in 2021.
UnionBank president and CEO Edwin Bautista said the listed lender committed to execute key strategic imperatives at the start of 2022.
These include the seamless integration of the acquired Citi consumer business that includes customers and employees and the commercial launch of UnionDigital as one of six digital banks licensed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
“We delivered on our promise and the market has rewarded us for it. Our recent stock performance, increase in stock trading volumes, and the strong commitment from our major shareholders on our stock rights offering reflect shareholders’ trust in the value that will be created from the execution of our strategies,” Bautista said.
The bank ended up spending P72 billion instead of P55 billion for the acquisition of Citi’s retail banking business in the Philippines. As of end June last year, the net asset value of Citi’s business stood at P26.7 billion plus a premium of P45.3 billion.
