CHINA Banking Corp. (Chinabank) on Thursday said first-quarter net income had climbed four percent year on year to P6.8 billion, driven by sustained expansion in its core lending business and improved margins.
The first-quarter performance resulted in a return on equity of 14.2 percent and a return on assets of 1.5 percent, which Chinabank said were among the highest in the local banking industry
Net interest income, the primary growth engine, rose 14 percent to P19.5 billion, supported by a stronger topline and lower funding costs that lifted net interest margin by 12 basis points to 4.61 percent.
Operating expenses increased five percent to P8.8 billion, reflecting continued investments in manpower and digital initiatives aimed at boosting long-term growth.
Despite the higher spending, Chinabank said it maintained an efficient cost-to-income ratio of 49 percent.
Total assets expanded 12 percent to P1.9 trillion as the bank continued to build up high-quality earning assets.
Gross loans grew 16 percent to P1.1 trillion, driven by robust demand from both the corporate and consumer segments.
On the funding side, deposits rose 13 percent to P1.5 trillion. Of this, low-cost checking account and savings account (CASA) deposits expanded by 20 percent, improving the CASA ratio to 48 percent from 46 percent.
Chinabank said asset quality remained stable with the nonperforming loans (NPL) ratio at 1.6 percent, better than the industry average. The bank set aside P684 million in loan loss provisions, bringing its NPL coverage ratio to 110 percent.
It said total equity increased 10 percent to P192.3 billion, with book value per share rising to P71.42.
During its annual stockholders’ meeting on April 15, shareholders approved the declaration of cash dividends amounting to P2.80 per share or a total payout of P7.5 billion.
This included a regular dividend of P1.80 per share and a special dividend of P1.00 apiece, up 12 percent a year ago, underscoring the bank’s strong capital position and commitment to shareholder returns.
China Bank shares on Thursday were unchanged at P64.00 each amid a 0.10-percent dip for the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index.
