PSBank: 1st 9 mos. net income up by 71% to P1.5B

Philippine Savings Bank (PSBank), the thrift bank of Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co., posted a net income of P1.5 billion in the first nine months, up 71 percent from the same period last year. “The exceptional net income for the first nine months of the year already exceeded the full-year target of P1.4 billion," PSBank president Pascual Garcia III said in a statement Wednesday. Revenues grew to P6.2 billion at the end of September, up 34 percent from the same period last year, the bank said. In the third quarter alone the bank said its net income grew by 168 percent to P724 million from the same July-September period in 2009. Its loan portfolio and income from trading investments helped boot PSBank’s financial results, according to the statement. “The prevailing low interest rate environment has allowed us to recognize these unprecedented financial results," Garcia said. The high level of consumer confidence also allowed the bank’s auto loans to grow by 24 percent, its mortgage loans by 11 percent, and its personal loans by 8 percent, in the third quarter. PSBank said it generated P4.4 billion from these transactions. Interest income on loans rose by 16 percent during the period with the 14-percent increase in its gross loan portfolio. — JE/VS, GMANews.TV