Philippine National Bank registered a consolidated net income of P10.3 billion for the first half of 2024 as the bank managed to beef up its core banking activities despite the prevailing challenges in the economic environment.

The bank’s six-month net interest income went up by 11 percent year-on-year, driven by a 17-percent increase in interest income earned from its loan portfolio and treasury assets, due to high interest rates combined with increased volume.

“PNB’s performance has been on an upward trajectory since the start of the year and we attribute this to the sound execution of our strategies and growth initiatives,” said PNB President Florido Casuela.

“The stronger focus and collaboration of our business groups have enabled us to serve a broader part of the commercial lending and consumer finance segments. We are happy to help these segments grow and it is made more meaningful by the fact that we just marked our 108th founding anniversary as a financial institution that helps Filipinos reach their aspirations.”

The bank was able to temper the impact of higher interest expense on deposits by deploying these deposits to assets with better yields.

As a result, the bank’s net interest margin improved to 4.37 percent from 4.14 percent a year ago.