The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
By Riza Lozada
Top lender Metropolitan Bank and Trust Company (Metrobank) reported an unaudited consolidated net income of P13.2 billion in the first nine-months of 2017, up five percent from last year.
Metrobank said in a statement it continued to make strides in its core banking business as it sustained the momentum in its loan expansion and low-cost deposits growth.
Fee income drivers continued to improve and operating expenses were again capped at a single-digit growth rate, it added.
“We are pleased to report that our core earnings results are moving ahead of plans,” Metrobank President Fabian Dee said.
Dee added that Metrobank is continuously improving its operations and have made the necessary enhancements to its internal processes to ensure that it becomes an even stronger institution.
“We would like to thank our customers for their support as we move forward and continue to deliver premium customer experience to them,” he added.
The bank sustained its 15 percent growth in low cost deposits for a 62 percent current and savings accounts ratio, out of the total P1.5 trillion deposit base.
This healthy mix of funding supported the 20 percent year-on-year growth in net loans and receivables to reach P1.2 trillion.
The commercial segment was again at the forefront of this growth as the bank continued to provide funding to both corporate and middle market clients in support of the local economy.
With the strong performance in its balance sheet expansion, net interest margin continued to improve at 3.8 percent mainly coming from the loan expansion in target segments.
This delivered a 16 percent increase in the Bank’s net interest income, which make up 72 percent of the P62.9 billion total revenue.
Meanwhile, the bank’s non-interest income of P17.6 billion was comprised of P9.1 billion in service fees and commissions including income from trust operations, P4 billion in net trading and foreign exchange gains and P4.5 billion in miscellaneous income.
On the other hand, the bank incurred operating expenses of P35.8 billion for the period, up by just eight percent as expected.
The bank’s asset quality metrics remained better than industry average with NPL ratio at 1.07 percent. Provisions for credit and impairment losses for the period amounted to P5.9 billion, including one-offs.
Metrobank ended the period with total equity at P210.4 billion. Total capital adequacy ratio (CAR) on a Basel III basis remained well above the regulatory limit at 16.0 percent with Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio at 13.3 percent.
