Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation posted an unaudited consolidated Net Income of P4.5 billion for the first nine months of 2019, 41 percent higher than the P3.2 billion reported for the same period last year.
The robust growth was driven by the bank’s focus in strengthening its core business, consistently generating double-digit growth in net interest income.
Interest income from loans and receivables expanded by 24 percent to P24.1 billion on account of higher average loan volume of key select markets.
Loans to consumers, which include mortgage loans, automobile loans, and credit cards, increased by 18 percent to P126.3 billion.
Gross outstanding credit card receivables accelerated by 43 percent to P27.9 billion as of September 2019 with an active card base of 836,000, higher by 26 percent than last year.
Moreover, loans to small and medium enterprises (SME) continued to grow year on year by 20 percent to P64.8 billion.
“We see more potential in the fast-growing consumer and SME sectors. We expect them to be 50 percent of our customer base by next year,” President and CEO Eugene Acevedo said.
Trading opportunities boosted the bank’s profitability as it generated P7.1 billion in Trading and FX gains in the nine months ended September 2019. Likewise, fee-based income increased by 12 percent to P3.1 billion, driven by higher revenues from deposit and branch fees, card-related fees, and trust fees.
“Our double-digit income growth is a reflection of the bank’s prudence in tapping the right prospects in the market, while expanding capacity and enhancing customer experience in the core business,” Acevedo added.
Meanwhile, the bank’s operating expenses inched up to P16.3 billion for the first nine months of 2019 which can be mainly attributed to the significant growth in business volume as gross revenues jumped 43 percent year on year.
Total assets of the bank reached P670.7 billion as of end-September 2019, representing a 9 percent year-on-year growth compared with the P614.4 billion as of same period last year.
Total deposits increased by P14.0 billionto P424.2 billion with CASA deposits reaching Pw40.9 billion.
