BDO Hits Record PhP25B Net Income for 2015
Makati—(PHStocks)—BDO Unibank Inc. (PSE: BDO) boosted its net income to an all-time high of PhP25 billion last year on robust growth across all business segments. This represents an increase of 10% year-on-year, matching the bank’s earnings guidance for 2015 despite the challenging operating environment.
The bank achieved another milestone last year as it became the first domestic bank to reach the PhP2-trillion mark in total assets.
The sustained expansion in lending, deposit-taking and fee-based businesses drove the Bank’s solid performance last year. BDO’s customer loan portfolio grew 17% to PhP1.3 trillion, outpacing the industry’s growth of 13%. Total deposits grew by 12% to PhP1.7 trillion, underpinned by the faster 19% jump in low-cost deposits. This resulted in net interest income amounting to PhP57 billion.
Non-interest income rose to PhP31.9 billion, with fee-based service income contributing PhP19.4 billion and trading and foreign exchange gains accounting for PhP7.2 billion. Overall, gross operating income advanced by 10% to PhP88.9 billion.
Operating expense growth was at 14% due to sustained business and branch expansion as well as the consolidation of One Network Bank (ONB) in July 2015.
Meanwhile, BDO set aside PhP3 billion in provisions even as gross nonperforming loan (NPL) ratio declined to 1.2% from 1.3% in 2014. NPL cover remained high at 166%.
The bank’s capital base hit almost PhP200 billion in 2015, with Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR), Tier 1 Capital ratio and Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio all settling comfortably above the current regulatory minimum under the Basel III framework at 13.3%, 11.7%, and 11.3%, respectively.
For 2016, BDO believes its solid balance sheet, strong business franchise and focused growth strategy place the Bank in a solid position to take advantage of the country’s growth opportunities amid an increasingly competitive and volatile environment.
Meanwhile, at its regular Board meeting on 27 February 2016, the bank’s board of directors approved the declaration of PhP0.30 per share cash dividends on common shares for the first quarter of this year, with ex-dividend date at 9 March 2016, record date at 14 March 2016 and payment date at 28 March 2016.
