Union Bank net income more than doubles in H1

Union Bank on Monday reported that its net income for the first half of the year more than doubled from yearago levels due to higher revenues across businesses. In a statement to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Union Bank said its net profits zoomed 105 percent to P2.61 billion in the first half of 2007, from P1.046 billion in the same period last year. Net interest income for the first semester reached P2.41 billion. The Aboitiz-led lender acquired smaller competitor International Exchange Bank in June of 2006, making it the 9th largest bank in the country. "UnionBank has already completed its full system integration. The iBank branches are now fully integrated into the UnionBank system, allowing both UnionBank and iBank clients to transact in 186 branches nationwide free of charge on deposit and withdrawal transactions," the lender said in the statement. The lender added that with the iBank acquisition, its total assets expanded by 87.6 percent to P201.9 billion in June 2007. Loan portfolio increased by 157.9 percent to P39.3 billion, while its capital adequacy ratio improved to 23.4 percent in June 2007 from 16.2 percent in the same period last year. - GMANews.TV