Philippine Bank of Communications, a listed universal bank, said Tuesday net income last year rose a modest 3.7 percent to P1.63 billion with growth in net interest income, fees and commissions and foreign exchange gains offsetting the impact of revenue headwind from trading activities.
It said net interest income increased 13 percent to P4.81 billion on the back of a 16 percent increase in interest earning assets to P107.8B, largely funded by P58.2 billion in low-cost deposits. Net interest margin strengthened to 4.83 percent.
PBCom said net loan portfolio registered an above industry growth of nearly 19 percent, ending the year at P76.9 billion. Investment securities, meantime, soared 40 percent to P21.7 billion.
Non-performing loan declined to 3.2 percent from 4.9 percent in 2021.
The bank’s cost to income ratio, net or provisions, improved to 56 percent from 57.7 percent despite additional spending on strategic initiatives in relation to business development and investments in information technology.
The strong year-end performance improved its capital base by 9.8 percent to P15.6 billion, while capital adequacy and CET 1 were at 17.1 percent and 14.6 percent, respectively.
