Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank) raised its net income by 8 percent to P7.43 billion in the first six months, or more than its P6.88-billion target for the period, as income from investments grew the fastest by 9 percent, from P8.4 billion to P9.2 billion.
Along with the long-term capital resource, loan revenues from the core banking services increased by 7 percent, from expanded loan portfolio of P490.6 billion to P597.1 billion.
The government-owned bank, which mainly caters to farmers, fisherfolk and micro, small and medium entrepreneurs as part of the financially unbanked and underserved sectors, posted double-digit growth in deposits that rose by 17 percent, from P1.13 trillion P1.32 trillion.
Additional investment resource from shareholders capital generated profits or a return on equity of 14.55 percent.
Thus, equity and liabilities amounted to total assets of P1.5 trillion, or an increase by 15 percent, from P1.3 trillion a year ago.
Equity and debt, on the other hand, resulted in total capital of P97.4 billion, which was 9 percent higher than previous in the same period.
The growth contributed to a healthy net interest margin of 3.03 percent as LandBank continued to manage its expenses and gains from interest-incurring investments.
“We continue to double our efforts in strengthening our financial position, as we are determined to keep contributing significantly to improving the lives of our priority sectors, especially small farmers and fishers,” LandBank President and CEO Alex V. Buenaventura said.
“We are confident about meeting our full-year target of P13.75 billion, as income from loans and investments remain strong,” he added.
Thus, the bank said it would strengthen its Financial Inclusion Caravan program among over 4,000 unbanked and underserved Filipinos in fourth- and fifth-class municipalities nationwide this year. The program was launched in 2016 to educate Filipinos on basic banking services and encourage the opening of savings accounts.