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THE
Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) posted a net
income of P1.53 billion for the first half of the year,
down 15.5 percent or P1.81 billion posted in the same
period last year, the bank said in a disclosure to the
Philippine Stock Exchange.
RCBC
president and chief executive officer Lorenzo Tan said
the bank’s profit during the first six months were
dampened by inflationary concerns and worries over the
slowing global economy.
“The
slowdown in both the local and global economic
environment coupled with the increase in inflation made
it a challenging six months for the whole banking
industry,” he said.
As of
June this year, the bank’s consolidated assets reached
P255.2 billion, up P222.8 billion from a year earlier.
Deposits
rose 18.3 percent to P185.5 billion from P156.7 billion
in the comparable period last year because of an
18.6-percent increase in low-cost deposits to P83
billion from P70.2 billion.
Total
loans and receivables rose 35.2 percent to P139.5
billion from P103.2 billion last year.
The bank
currently has a nonperforming-loan ratio of 4.1 percent
as of June 2008, from 6.7 percent last year.
Its
capital-adequacy ratio stood at 20.97 percent.
In a
phone interview, RCBC vice president for corporate
communications Joey Guillas said the bank experienced a
drop in interest income and income from investments. He
did not elaborate, other than saying, “It’s still
macroeconomic forces at work.”
Sluggish
trading and investment environment in the second half
have impacted most banks’ operating revenues, and lower
trading gains have diminished bank profit, especially
for banks that depend a lot on revenues from treasury
gains.
RCBC is
currently the country’s fourth-largest bank in terms of
capital base. |
