THE banking arm of diversifying conglomerate San Miguel Corp. said profits rose in the first nine months of the year, mostly on gains from its non-interest portfolio, documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission show.

In the January to September period, the Bank of Commerce said profits rose over 28 percent to P398.21 million from the same period last year.

Gains were mostly credited to non-interest income which rose by over a fifth to P728.99 million. In particular, the lender noted gains this year on its assets and liabilities held for trading amounting to P138.18 million, a reversal of a net loss of P122.71 million in 2008.

Net interest income also grew, albeit minimally, to P2.39 billion.

The bank’s assets during the period rose to P109.5 billion from P88.8 billion last year. Deposits stood at P91.37 billion, higher by over a quarter from the first nine months in 2008.

In July, San Miguel president Ramon Ang bared a plan to list the midsized lender on the Philippine Stock Exchange in the future.

San Miguel gained a controlling 51-percent stake in Bank of Commerce through its unit San Miguel Properties Inc. and its retirement fund after infusing an additional P2 billion in the bank last May.

Ang also noted a plan to increase the bank’s customer base.

In the near term, Ang said San Miguel’s plan is for the bank to work with listed refiner Petron Corp.

“We see potential projects we can pursue with Petron.

There’s a fit between retail banking and Petron’s retail network of over 1,500 service stations,” Ang said in an earlier statement.

Ang sees Bank of Commerce working cooperatively with other businesses owned by San Miguel, which also has interests in energy distribution and generation, telecommunications and toll roads. It also plans to enter mining and the water-supply sector.