BPI net income grows 73% to P20.4B in H1

Ayala-led Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) saw its bottom line grow by over 70% in the first half of 2022 on the back of higher revenues and lower provisions.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Thursday, BPI reported a net income of P20.4 billion in the January to June period, up 73% year-on-year.

The bank said its first semester performance included a net gain on the sale of property and tax adjustments due to the CREATE or Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Law, which reduced corporate income tax from 30% to 25%.

Excluding the impact of the asset sale and tax adjustments, BPI said its first half net income stood at P16.7 billion, up 24% year-on-year.

The bank’s revenues for the period grew 19.8% year-on-year to P57.6 billion, driven by the growth in net interest income of 16.2% to P39.3 billion on the back of 14.4% loan growth and a 15-basis point expansion in net interest margin to 3.46%.

Non-interest income rose 28.4% to P18.3 billion as fee income increased 42.2% year-on-year, slightly tempered by notably lower securities trading gains, which came off a high base last year.

The bank recognized loan loss provisions of P5 billion for the first half of the year, a 23.1% reduction from the P6.5 billion booked over the same period last year as the non-performing loans (NPL) ratio further improved to 1.99% and the NPL coverage ratio stood at a comfortable 170.7%.

For the second quarter alone, BPI said it recorded its highest quarterly net income of P12.5 billion, up 82.9% year-on-year.

Total loans as of end-June stood at P1.6 trillion, a 14.4% growth year-on-year, due to higher loan volumes across the board, led by growth in the corporate and SME, credit card, and auto portfolios of 16.3%, 16.5%, and 5.9%, respectively.

Total deposits grew 18.3% year-on-year to P2 trillion.

Total assets reached P2.5 trillion, up 13.1% versus the same period last year. —VBL, GMA News