BANCO De Oro  (BDO) was again recognized by international finance magazine Euromoney as the Best Bank in the Philippines at the recent Euromoney Awards for Excellence 2008 Asia Dinner at the Conrad Hotel, Hong Kong.

Euromoney said the newly merged BDO-EPCIB entity, now called BDO, has almost completed the integration of Equitable PCI Bank (EPCIB) and looks to be making a real success of the historic deal.

The takeover makes inherent sense in that BDO was strong in cities and malls, whereas EPCIB has a stronger provincial presence and more penetration of Filipino-Chinese markets.  BDO now has a much more extensive branch network and will benefit from EPCIB’s traditional strengths in the middle market and in credit cards: By the end of 2007, with integration nearing completion, BDO’s total deposits grew to $10.8 billion from $9.6 billion and it reported double-digit growth in low-cost deposits. The bank has completed an extensive rebranding exercise and is ahead of schedule in converting EPCIB branches to the BDO name.

Notwithstanding extraordinary expenses related to the integration, the bank’s net income rose to $142 million in financial 2007, up from $128 million in 2006.  It has shored up its capital base with a P10-billion ($226 million) Tier-2 debt offering and, if it can continue to realize benefits from synergies created by the merger, will be a strong contender for next year’s award.

“Our confidence comes from knowing fully well that in the past year, our bank has truly become much greater than the mere sum of its parts; BDO has consolidated its strengths with EPCIBank, old as well as new, and upon this stronger foundation we will build our future success,” said BDO president Nestor Tan.

Regarded as the benchmark awards for financial services globally, the Euromoney Awards for Excellence is now in its 16th consecutive year. 

This year’s awards process, which began in April, attracted over 600 submissions from the world’s leading banks and brokerage houses competing for the awards. Euromoney’s dedicated research team and awards panel rated all of the submissions on both quantitative and qualitative factors such as KPIs, financial ratios, and innovation over a 12-month period to decide the award winner.

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‘Euromoney’ recognizes BDO, cites success of merger with Equitable

BANCO De Oro  (BDO) was again recognized by international finance magazine Euromoney as the Best Bank in the Philippines at the recent Euromoney Awards for Excellence 2008 Asia Dinner at the Conrad Hotel, Hong Kong.