EastWest Bank, the lending arm of the Gotianun Group, said Friday its net income in the first half more than doubled to P3.3 billion, driven primarily by sustained momentum from its lending portfolio.
Return on equity improved to 10.6 percent.
EastWest Bank said net revenues were 29 percent higher at P16.3 billion, aided by an 18 percent improvement in net interest income to P13.0 billion as gains in consumer lending pushed core earning capacity back to pre-pandemic levels.
It said consumer lending portfolio, which accounted for 77 percent of total loans, increased by 27 percent on increases in credit cards, auto and key salary loan segments.
The lender said interest expense grew by P1.9 billion as the current interest rate environment translated to higher funding costs. But because of the bank’s asset structure, net interest margin still increased to 7.5 percent from 7.42 percent.
Non-interest income doubled to ₱3.3 billion, with fees and commissions up 70 percent to P2.3 billion.
“Our ramping-up initiatives on our consumer lending portfolio that started last year are now showing results. While we have surpassed our pre-pandemic peak loan levels this quarter, the work is not complete as we focus on optimizing our balance sheet structure to unlock more value,” said EastWest Bank president Jackie Fernandez.
Operating expenses rose 16 percent to P9.5 billion due largely to manpower, information technology and business-related expenses.
Total assets ended at ₱434 billion, up 4.6 percent. Meantime, total loans and receivables increased 22 percent to P273.6 billion as the bank used excess liquidity for higher-yielding consumer loans.
“Our first half results speak a lot about the hard work and dedication of the team on all fronts,” said EastWest Bank chief executive officer Jerry Ngo. “And while we exceeded our pre-pandemic loan levels this quarter, we further managed to improve our funding mix which is key to maintaining our industry-leading margins. We are also progressing steadily on our people and IT initiatives that will bring us to our next chapter of growth. We still have ways to go as far as profitability is concerned but our bigger and stronger asset base will get us there,” he added.
