RCBC posts 7% profit hike
Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation posted an unaudited consolidated net income of P3.3 billion for the first half of 2021, higher by 7.0 percent from the same period last year.
This was driven by the sustained expansion in the customer loan business which grew by 9 percent, even as the industry contracted by 2 percent. The 28 percent growth in low-cost CASA deposits likewise performed better than the industry.
Investment Securities rose 3.4x, and fee income surged by 47 percent as investments and retail transactions picked up during the period.
RCBC’s solid loan growth despite the industry decline was fuelled by the expansion in the corporate and small and medium enterprise (SME) segments by 10 percent and 17 percent, respectively.
Gross Income, net of trading and FX gains, increased by 13 percent year on year to PhP16.9 billionon the back of the Bank’s asset build-up strategy and robust fee income growth.
RCBC’s total assets rose by 18 percent to P845.8 billion, with Loans and Receivables and Investment Securities comprising 59 percent and 21 percent of the total, respectively. This growth was supported by the 20 percent jump in total deposits, and the 23 percent increase in capital funds with solid capital ratios–CAR of 15.1 percent and CET1 ratio of 11.8 percent. Annualized Return on Equity stood at 6.6 percent and annualized Return on Assets at 0.8 percent.
Supply and build agreement
Megawide Construction Corp. said it has signed a contract with PHirst Park Homes for a supply and build agreement in the latter’s Magalang, Pampanga project.
This after Megawide recently got a contract from PHirst Park as well for its Batulao, Batangas site.
The new contract covers the supply and build agreement for 1,079 housing units using precast materials, marking the two companies’ seventh venture together.
For Megawide, this brings the total housing units, including the initial and additional orders, to 12,437 under contract with PHirst Park Homes.
Edgar Saavedra, Megawide chairman, said the company’s seventh partnership with PHirst Park Homes “reflects the mutually-beneficial business relationship we continue to harness.”
Currently, the two companies are working together to build communities in seven different locations: Lipa and Batulao, Batangas; Calamba and San Pablo, Laguna; Tanza, Cavite; Pandi, Bulacan; and Magalang, Pampanga.
7-Eleven now have ATMs
More people within Metro Manila and Cavite can now withdraw cash at over 500 7-Eleven stores. This convenience is made possible by Philippine Seven Corporation (PSC), the exclusive licensor of 7-Eleven in the Philippines, in partnership with PitoAxM Platform, Inc. (PAPI), a subsidiary of Seven Bank, Ltd. (Seven Bank).
PSC already has plans to continue installing more ATMs in the remaining 7-Eleven stores in NCR (CaMaNaVa, Muntinlupa, Las Pinas, and other areas within Cavite).
“With the threat of COVID-19 still present, and the continuing implementation of community quarantines, the need for easy access to financial services is paramount. Now, more Filipinos can withdraw cash at ATM machines in over 500 7-Eleven stores,” said Jose Victor Paterno, President and CEO, Philippine Seven Corporation.
ATMs at 7-Eleven stores currently have the lowest transaction fee for cash withdrawals compared to transacting at another bank’s ATM.
Apart from allowing customers to withdraw cash from any of its partner banks, the ATMs at 7-Eleven stores have a unique feature of adapting the ATM interface depending on the customer’s bank, making it easy for customers to use.
The installation of ATMs in 7-Eleven stores began on February 22 this year. By June, 300 7-Eleven stores had the ATMs installed. PSC plans to expand coverage to 1,000 stores by the end of 2021, with the end goal of covering all existing 7-Eleven stores in the future.
Get BDO Apps from official stores
BDO Unibank is advising its clients to download its mobile apps only from official app store platforms to ensure security of data.
The bank’s mobile apps are BDO Digital Banking, BDO Pay, BDO Deals, BDO Securities Mobile App, BDO Checkout, BDO Merchant, and BDO Unibank SG
Meanwhile, clients who are unable to download the mobile apps are encouraged to use the web version.
BDO advises against downloading its mobile apps from unofficial app stores and other websites, which may offer outdated versions of these apps or worse, include a malicious software or malware.
Scammers use malware to gather confidential information that may be saved in mobile devices, such as online banking username and password, debit or credit card information, and other personal data.
PhilPlans’ payouts hit P16.5B
From the beginning of 2018 until June 30, 2021, PhilPlans has paid out P16.492 biliion in life, pension, and educational benefits. Of the said amount, P7.32 billion or 44.4 percent was given from the start of 2020 until the middle of 2021, which practically covers the pandemic period that began in March 2020.
As for maturity benefits, PhilPlans has paid out P2.38 billion in maturity benefits to 36,236 planholders from the beginning of 2020 to June 30, 2021. P1.25 billion was given to 14,620 pension planholders, while P952 million was disbursed to 18,606 education planholders, and P186 million to 3,010 life planholders.
In addition, PhilPlans has processed P6.55 billion of the special cash programs and distributed P4.937 billion to 30,661 planholders as of June 30, 2021.
PhilPlans has also recently reported to the Insurance Commission (IC) that despite the pandemic, it attained a net worth of P3 billion for 2020 and retained earnings of P1.8billion, based on its audited financial statements for the year.
TFC leads viewership in US
ABS-CBN Corp.’s global flagship channel still leads in viewership among multicultural Asian households in the United States for June and July according to Comscore, a source for television viewing data.
The Filipino Channel (TFC) has consistently been noted by monthly Comscore reports as the preferred Filipino channel among subscribers, ABS-CBN said.
Based on Comscore’s June and July 2021 TV viewing engagement, TFC reached the most households among Asian networks with nearly 200,000 households, followed by Sony Entertainment TV Asia (Southeast Asian) and GMA Pinoy (Filipino).
ABS-CBN said TFC got the most viewing hours in June and July in multicultural Asian households. In July, TFC’s viewing hours per household was 38 percent higher than the next most watched Asian network. TFC logged in 58 hours of viewing per household compared to 42 hours of viewing per household for GMA Pinoy TV in the same month.
