PNB net income surges 144% to P1.77B

A listed commercial bank has reported a 144-percent surge in its net income for the first half of 2012 In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Wednesday, Philippine National Bank (PNB) reported a net income of P1.77 billion for H1 2012 and an operating income of P8.7 billion, up 34 percent from P6.5 billion a year ago. “Interest income on loans was up 6 percent owing to improved volume and better spreads coming out of a good mix of corporate, [small and medium enterprises] and consumer lending,” the commercial bank noted in its disclosure. Net loans and receivables jumped P5.3 billion during the period to close at P131.5 billion. Meanwhile, trading and investment securities gains grew 16 times to P2.6 billion, “attributed largely to the gain on sale and redemption of available for sale securities,” the bank said. Operating expenses expanded 20 percent year-on-year due to merger-related costs and additional provisions for impairment and credit losses, which the bank said “remain consistent with the conservative provisioning stance of the Bank.” Non-performing loans also dropped to P6.6 billion in the first semester from P6.9 billion last year. Consolidated equity valued at P40.3 billion, up 3 percent from end-2011, while subordinated debt jumped to P9.9 billion from P6.4 billion last year. In May, PNB issued P3.5 billion unsecured subordinated notes qualifying as tier II capital in a move to “finance asset growth and strengthen the Bank’s capital base.” The offering closed earlier than planned due to strong demand from their clients, it said. In August, PNB received the go signal from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to merge with Allied Bank Corp. to create a bank with “… the largest international footprint across the Asia Pacific region, Europe, the Middle East and North America.” PNB will be the surviving entity. — BM, GMA News