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The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is bullish that the sustained rise of digital payment technologies will continue to facilitate the delivery of financial services to the unbanked and micro-, small-, and medium-enterprises (MSMEs).

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation booked a net income of P6.81 billion in 2023, up 53 percent from the previous year, aided by a surge in revenue due to stronger results from licensed casinos and electronic games.

Megaworld Corp. is building its second hotel in Pasig City, which the listed property development venture of tycoon Andrew Tan said Monday would likely be the tallest homegrown hotel project to date.

Reuters - The United Nations food agency's world price index fell in January to its lowest level in nearly three years, driven by declines in cereals and meat.

Asia United Bank posts record P8.3B net income in 2023 on better interest margins Banks/Insurance Asia United Bank Corp. said Monday its 2023 net income surged 32 percent to a record P8.3 billion, aided by double-digit growth in net interest income and a strong growth in loans. “We attribute this vastly improved performance to our robust loan growth, more profitable net interest margin, continuously improving credit quality, and higher operating efficiency,” said AUB president Manuel Gomez. The listed lender said return-on-equity last year stood at 18.6 percent while return-on-asset is a 2.38 percent, both improvements from the 2022 levels of 16.1 percent and 1.9 percent, respectively. These figures were record highs since the bank had its initial public offering in 2013. AUB reported net interest income last year increase 17 percent to P15 billion amid rising interest rates. Net non-performing loan ratio of 0.58 percent was way below industry average of 1.6 percent. Loan loss provision declined 27 percent to P1.2 billion. The bank posted operating expenses of P6.5 Billion in 2023. AUB said total assets rose 4 percent to P355.1 billion while equity jumped 23 percent to P49.1 billion. It said common equity tier 1 ratio was at 16.88 percent while capital adequacy ratio was 17.49 percent, both above regulatory requirements. “With our stronger performance in 2023, we expect to solidify our lead among the country’s top ten listed universal banks in terms of compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) on key indicators since AUB was listed on the bourse in 2013,” said Mr. Gomez. “However, with interest rates expected to remain elevated this year, and global shocks a continuing concern, we have to remain agile to sustain our performance.”