Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), the country’s third largest lender by assets, said strong loan growth and wider margins boost its financial performance in the first nine months of the year, with net income climbing 5.2 percent year-on-year to P50.5 billion.
Total revenues rose 13 percent to P142.3 billion, driven by a 16 percent jump in net interest income to P109.1 billion. BPI reported an 8.7 percent expansion in its average earning asset base and a 30-basis point improvement in net interest margin to 4.60 percent. Non-interest income also contributed with a 4.2 percent rise to P33.3 billion, led by strong fee-based businesses like credit cards and wealth management, along with higher trading income.
Operating expenses rose 10.3 percent to P65.5 billion, reflecting higher business activity, staffing, and technology investments. Despite this, the bank improved operational efficiency, with its cost-to-income ratio dropping by 118 basis points to 46 percent.
Asset quality remained stable, with a nonperforming loan ratio of 2.3 percent. The bank provisioned P11.8 billion for credit losses, pushing the NPL coverage ratio to 96.5 percent.
As of end-September, BPI had total assets of P3.5 trillion, up 9.3 percent from the previous year. Gross loans rose 13.3 percent to P2.4 trillion, while deposits grew 7.7 percent to P2.7 trillion, including P1.6 trillion in low-cost current account/savings account, which made up 61 percent of the total. The loan-to-deposit ratio stood at 90.3 percent.
BPI ended September with P474.8 billion in total equity and robust capital buffers, with a Common Equity Tier 1 ratio of 14.9 percent and a Capital Adequacy Ratio of 15.8 percent.
