BDO jumps 145 spots on list of world's top banks to 251st place

BDO Unibank Inc.'s ranking on a list of the world's top 1,000 banks improved to 251st place from 396th place in 2012.

UK-based banking and finance magazine The Banker raised BDO's ranking on its Top 1,000 World Banks list by 145 places due to the bank's enhanced overall performance, especially in terms of tier 1 capital, assets and profit.

The magazine also said that BDO took the top spot among banks in the Philippines.

BDO Unibank, the banking arm of SM Investments Corp., saw its net income in the first half of 2013 more than double to P14.1 billion from P5.8 billion in the same period last year. Gross customer loans were up 12 percent to P806.6 billion, while total deposits increased by 17 percent to P1.02 trillion thanks to an increase in low-cost deposits. Due to this, the bank's net interest income rose by 14 percent to almost P20 billion.

Operating expenses grew 9 percent, while the bank increased its provisions to P4.0 billion to raise its non-performing loans (NPL) coverage ratio to 148 percent, despite the decline in its NPL ratio to 2.4 percent.

As of end-June 2013, BDO was well capitalized with a capital adequacy ratio of 18.3 percent and a Tier 1 capital ratio of 15.6 percent, both well above the regulatory minimum.

BDO has more than 790 operating branches and over 2,100 ATMs nationwide. It also has a branch in Hong Kong and 14 overseas remittance and representative offices in Asia, Europe, North America and the Middle East.

BDO also recently raised P5 billion in its long-term negotiable certificates of deposit offering, which was concluded early on Aug. 30 due to oversubscription. — BM, GMA News