THE Ayala Group’s Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) projects sustained growth in its lending business as the year nears to a close.
BPI President and CEO Cezar Consing at the sidelines of a bancassurance event, said the lender’s current loan portfolio remains healthy no matter the volatilities in financial markets.
“[Our] loan portfolio is a good mix between corporate and retail and both are growing steadily,” he said.
The first three months of the year saw BPI’s total loans rising to P861.22 billion, 18.1 percent higher year-on-year, with a 78:22 corporate-retail mix.
Its total loan portfolio expanded 18.6 percent to P904.38 billion in the first half, anchored by the 20.4-percent rise in corporate loans, while deposits rose 10.8 percent to P1.33 trillion.
However, despite the increase in its loan book, BPI said its gross 90-day nonperforming loans dropped to 1.6 percent, from 1.8 percent, while reserve cover stood at 117.8 percent.
In September the lender raised $400 million through a three-year syndicated term loan facility to finance strong growth in loans and investments. The first for BPI in the syndicated dollar loan market, the facility was upsized from $250 million after it generated strong interest and was heavily subscribed by Asian, European and American lenders.
Despite his refusal to comment on the lender’s outlook for the year, the executive said BPI is generally faring well.
“I don’t want to comment on our outlook except to say we’re doing fine,” Consing said.
BPI booked a 35.6-percent increase in earnings to P12.67 billion in the first half, while revenues rose 20.9 percent to P35.2 billion on the back of strong results from its core lending business, noninterest income and securities trading.
Consing also said expansion plans are well under way. Its thrift unit, BPI Family Savings Bank, said in an earlier report the unit’s additional 19 branches are on their way to completion before yearend.
The Ayala-led bank, which also holds the largest bancassurance companies in the Philippines, BPI-Philam Life Assurance Corp, has aggressively expanded through BPI’s 800-branch strong network.
“We’re already the number one in bancassurance and that’s using the insurance company products, but distribute it via the branches. In that area we’re already No. 1. So the hope is that overtime, we become the number one life-insurance company,” Consing said in a previous statement.
After only six years in the market, BPI Philam has accelerated to fourth largest in the Philippine life-insurance industry, based on its 2015 premium income amounting to P20.8 billion.