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Bank exec eyes 8-10% loan growth this year

By Joann Villanueva

April 19, 2023, 7:43 pm

<p><strong>ROBUST GROWTH</strong>. BDO Unibank Inc. president and chief executive officer (CEO) Nestor Tan said Wednesday (April 19, 2023) they are eyeing an 8-10 percent expansion in loans this year as economic activities regain traction. In the first quarter this year, the bank registered an 8 percent growth in loans to PHP2.6 trillion. (<em>Photo by Joann S. Villanueva)</em></p>

ROBUST GROWTH. BDO Unibank Inc. president and chief executive officer (CEO) Nestor Tan said Wednesday (April 19, 2023) they are eyeing an 8-10 percent expansion in loans this year as economic activities regain traction. In the first quarter this year, the bank registered an 8 percent growth in loans to PHP2.6 trillion. (Photo by Joann S. Villanueva)

MANILA – Sy-led BDO Unibank Inc. is considering an 8 to 10 percent loan growth this year on expectations for continued revitalization of the economy.

In a briefing on Wednesday, BDO president and chief executive officer (CEO) Nestor Tan said they aim to continue the strong growth of loans, which in the first quarter of the year expanded by 8 percent year-on-year to PHP2.6 trillion.

Tan said net interest margins (NIMs) continue to get support from stable assets, growth in the low-cost deposits and the hikes in the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) key policy rates.

Net interest income hit PHP43.3 billion and non-interest income reached PHP18.9 billion due to rise in fee-based and treasury and foreign exchange businesses.

The bank registered a net income of PHP16.5 billion, boosted by the broad-based growth of its businesses.

Tan said bank officials remain optimistic about the sustained robust performance of their businesses.

“I think we have the right franchise, the right balance sheet to generate income that will allow us to fund our growth,” he said.

He, however, said they are “a little bit more careful” due to concerns “about the collateral damage from rising interest rates, rising inflation.”

“Asset growth will not be in the mid-teens as we’ve seen historically because of high interest rates but we may see some improvement in business activities kicks up,” he added. (PNA)

 

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