PNB lending boosts profit to P25.3B
Philippine National Bank (PNB) saw its net income climb 20 percent to P25.3 billion in 2025. This was on the back of strong lending activity, improved asset quality and higher earnings from core and fee-based businesses.
In a statement on Monday, the Lucio Tan-led bank said its net income in 2025 jumped from P21.2 billion in 2024.
PNB said the robust performance pushed its return on equity to 11.1 percent, up by 70 basis points from the previous year.
The growth was attributed to solid core business operations, prudent cost management and continued operational efficiency.
PNB’s loan portfolio expanded by 15 percent, mainly on a 27-percent surge in consumer loans.
Corporate and commercial loans rose by 13 percent. This lending growth, amid healthy asset yields and low funding costs, resulted in a net interest margin of 4.51 percent.
Deposits also strengthened, rising 9 percent to break the trillion-peso mark to P1.06 trillion and provide a stable funding base for expansion.
Asset quality improved as the bank’s nonperforming loan ratio declined to 4.7 percent from 5.7 percent a year earlier. This reflected tighter portfolio monitoring and risk management.
PNB chief financial officer Francis Albalate said fee-generating businesses—including deposits, loans, credit cards, trust operations and bancassurance—contributed significantly to earnings growth. This highlighted the bank’s expanding revenue base and strengthening customer confidence.
Digital transformation
Operating expenses grew at a slower pace than income, allowing the bank to improve its cost-efficiency ratio to 48.2 percent from 49.6 percent in 2024.
PNB president and CEO Edwin Bautista said the bank’s performance marked another milestone thanks to investments in digital transformation and customer acquisition.
“After completing the modernization of our core banking system and ATM switch, we significantly enhanced our customer acquisition efforts and expanded our ability to capitalize on market opportunities,” Bautista said.
The bank’s digital app user base increased by 26 percent as it enhanced its platforms and upgraded its systems. It also upskilled more than 1,000 employees to strengthen capabilities in digital banking, data protection and emerging technologies.
PNB also expanded its digital payments capabilities through a partnership with Mastercard to implement tokenization technology. This enables more secure and seamless transactions.
Meanwhile, PNB raised P15.7 billion from its Association of Southeast Asian Nations Sustainability Bond issuance. It was more than five times oversubscribed, signaling strong investor demand.
