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THE
year 2006 was a banner year for the Metropolitan Bank
and Trust Co. (Metrobank), as the year saw the country’s
largest financial institution improve its balance sheet
even more, strengthen ties with its partners and receive
manifold recognitions either through its able leadership
or trusted brand.
“In
today’s banking industry, it is no longer enough just to
be the biggest; we have to be the best,” said Metrobank
president Arthur Ty in a statement. “This, we prove,
with our robust fiscal standings, deepened relations to
our stakeholders and being recognized as the industry
leader.”
Established by a group of businessmen on September 5,
1962 at the Wellington Building in Binondo, Manila,
Metrobank has become the Philippines’ biggest and the
first billion-dollar bank.
In the
four decades since 1962, Metrobank has expanded its
presence, with the branches, offices and subsidiaries it
set up here and abroad totaling to over 800 at present.
Apart
from physical reach, the bank has enhanced its
electronic banking platform to allow the rising number
of customers greater and more convenient access to their
accounts.
To date,
Metrobank has invested heavily on computer hardware and
sophisticated security features for its electronic
banking channels such as the Metrobank E.T. automated
teller machines (ATMs), Metrophone Banking, Metrobank
Mobile Banking, and Metrobankdirect Internet banking
facility for corporate and individual clients.
In
addition, it has increased overseas remittance tie-ups
abroad to better serve the growing Filipino communities
there.
“We want
to bolster the Metrobank brand overseas, and bring our
products and services closer to Filipinos abroad,” said
the bank’s president.
Its
products and services have evolved as well to meet the
needs of the bank’s corporate clients and the young,
emerging market while keeping a step ahead of
competition.
“The
road to becoming the country’s largest bank and
maintaining it until today has demanded a lot of focus
and discipline from the whole organization,” said
Metrobank chairman Antonio S. Abacan Jr., who, together
with the leadership of founder Dr. George S.K. Ty,
supervised the bank’s growth to what it is now.
“We had
to adapt to the ever-changing and ever-growing market.”
Sterling
growth performance
DUE to
cost controls and “fairly decent” trading gains and
interest profits, Metrobank has remained the country’s
largest financial institution with consolidated assets
of P635 billion as of September 2006.
For the
nine-month period last year, the bank reported a growth
of 5.6 percent in its combined net income amounting to
P4.435-billion with deposits at P479 billion.
Earnings
wise, the company posted a consolidated bottom line of
P1.529 billion, up by 32.8 percent from the previous
year’s P1.152 billion.
Given
the bank’s third-quarter financial gains last year, Ty
earlier predicted that the bank was likely to top the
net profit growth of 21 percent it had recorded in 2005
from 2004.
Analysts, on the other hand, expected Metrobank to post
a full-year net income of around P5.08 billion by
end-2006, a surge of 18 percent from P4.3 billion a year
earlier.
Strengthened ties with clients
MINDFUL
of the fact that the market constantly changes and the
bank needs to adapt and evolve, Metrobank has reformed
its growth strategy, focused more on its strengths
particularly in deepening customer relationships, and
targeted customer growth—all aimed to sustain its
industry leadership.
“We have
to push ourselves to be a market-driven institution,”
said Ty.
“Despite
these transformations and transitions, Metrobank has
always valued clients’ successes in mind, and they have
received, and continue to receive, personal treatment.”
To
better serve its more than three million customers, the
bank has made its cash management products more
efficient for them by using an online environment.
For its
overseas-based clients, it has repackaged its existing
deposit products and launched new ones to serve their
banking needs.
Furthermore, Metrobank has been participating in
sizeable and important deals with top-tier companies to
broaden its loan portfolio.
The
Metrobank Group has forged multibillion- peso deals to
finance the development of some of the country’s largest
corporations through various loan facilities.
“I
always felt that Metrobank was there in case we needed
funding to expand. We have confidence in the bank, with
its management and owners,” said Martin Lorenzo,
chairman and CEO of publicly listed Pancake House Inc.,
which has been a Metrobank client since 1996.
Holcim
Philippines CFO Eduardo Sahagun, also the bank’s patron
since 1992, said Metrobank is “obviously a friend in
good times and in bad, the relationship has been
tested.”
For Chan
Kok Bin, president of Celine Marketing Corp., the bank
has been there for him since he started the business in
1972. He has remained loyal to Metrobank for “it is very
frank and understanding when it comes to its customers.”
Banking
on its almost 22 years of partnership with the bank,
Cecilio Pedro, president and CEO of personal-care
products giant Lamoiyan Corp., the maker of Hapee
toothpaste, said that “in this long-term relationship,
it is important that we are willing to help each other
grow.”
The
successes of Metrobank’s partners with their known
brands have enjoyed the bank’s support over many years.
Their stories of triumph have been featured in the
bank’s ad campaign.
“We are
here to serve our clients and we’re happy to see them do
well. We take our client relationships seriously,” said
Ty.
Outstanding leadership
THE
previous fiscal year ushered in a new era for the bank
with the transition in leadership.
In May
2006, Dr. George Ty stepped out of the chairmanship of
the Metrobank Group and relayed the torch to Arthur Ty
as president; while former president Antonio Abacan was
elected as the bank’s new chairman.
Amid
such an organizational change, the bank has managed to
move to greater heights of excellence with the top
executives earning citations in their own rights.
For his
steering Metrobank into becoming the country’s largest
and multi-billionaire bank as well as for leading the
Metrobank Group to becoming the biggest financial
conglomerate in the country, Dr. Ty was conferred
“Management Man of the Year” award in 2006 by the
Management Association of the Philippines (MAP).
The
award is bestowed on individuals in the business
community or government for attaining unquestionable
distinction in the practice of management and for
contributing to the country’s progress.
Dr. Ty
was selected for his unquestionable integrity,
leadership and management qualities; contribution to
nation building, values formation and effective
stewardship within the confines of the highest standard
of business and management practice, among others.
He was
also recognized for demonstrating a keen, sincere sense
of corporate social responsibility through the corporate
programs of Metrobank and of its philanthropic arm, the
Metrobank Foundation.
Together
with Ayala Corp. chairman Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala,
Dr. Ty, was also honored for the substantial
contribution of their respective conglomerates to
national development in terms of job generation and
income opportunities for various sectors of the economy,
including areas in the government.
“Our
greatest motivation for striving to be the best in the
business field is the generation of more resources to
share with society whose support is responsible for our
success,” Dr. Ty stressed.
Meanwhile, Metrobank chairman Antonio Abacan Jr. was
accorded with the 2006 CEO EXCEL (Communication
Excellence in Organizations) Award by the International
Association of Business Communicators (IABC)
Philippines, one of the leading associations of public
relations and communications practitioners, and an
official chapter of the 13,000-member world IABC based
in San Francisco, California.
Abacan
is the brain behind “You’re in Good Hands” promise that
keeps Metrobank top-of-mind among consumers.
With his
effective communications strategy, IABC Philippines said
Abacan was successful in telling Metrobank’s story on
its continued leadership in the industry.
The CEO
EXCEL Award is the most prestigious recognition given to
the Philippine-based CEOs, presidents or top-level
executives of 12 industry categories who have shown
outstanding communications skills.
Trusted
brand
APART
from the fame of Metrobank’s executives, the bank’s
brand itself has continued to bring honor to the company
as it earned four major citations last year.
For the
second year in a row, Metrobank was recognized as Best
Performing Government Securities Dealer in the secondary
market by the Bureau of Treasury for the fiscal year of
2006.
Also,
the bank was ranked second in Best Overall Government
Securities Dealership.
“We are
proud of this award and remain committed to provide our
customers with excellent execution and diverse choices
in terms of return, tenor and structure,” said Edmund
Go, head of Metrobank’s Treasury group.
Metrobank is at the forefront of the local financial
markets doing peso-dollar spot, forwards and swaps;
foreign and local currency securities; and bond trading.
Last
year, the bank participated in the offshore bond markets
by tendering an order for more than $100 million of the
country’s $1.5-billion Republic of the Philippines (ROP)
Global Bond due 2031. It also joined in the primary
issuances of the €500-million Republic of the
Philippines Global Bond due 2016 and the $500-million
Federal Republic of Brazil Global Bond due 2037.
The bank
consistently has more than $1-billion monthly turnover
volume in US Treasuries, US commercial papers, ROP and
other sovereign bonds.
“We
continue to tap various investment opportunities as part
of the dynamic management of our portfolio and to keep
abreast of our customers’ investment objectives,” Go
said.
Banking
on its name meanwhile, Metrobank garnered two Trusted
Brand Gold awards in the recent Reader’s Digest Asia’s
Trusted Brands 2006 survey.
The
country’s leading bank won the awards for the Bank and
Investment Fund Company categories.
Similar
to other winners, Metrobank was awarded based on the
responses of consumers across key Asian countries, who
rated brands in each product or service category
according to quality, trustworthiness, credible image,
value, innovation and understanding of customer needs.
The
accolade was the third for the bank after it received
the Reader’s Digest Super Brand Gold Award consecutively
in 2004 and 2005.
At
present, Metrobank has 557 local branches and 33
international branches and offices in Taiwan, Shanghai,
Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Guam, the US,
the Bahamas and Europe.
Only
recently, the bank opened its first remittance office in
Canada.
Overall,
its presence has grown to over 800 international and
domestic branches, offices, subsidiaries and affiliates. |
