BDO allies with Ashikaga Bank to support Japanese firms in PH

Sy family-led BDO Unibank Inc. will provide support for more Japanese businesses that are planning to expand in the Philippines as it partnered with Tochigi-based Ashikaga Bank Ltd. (ABL).

BDO, the Philippines’ largest bank in terms of asset size, said in a statement on Thursday that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with ABL in December.

Under their agreement, BDO will give banking support to Japanese business entities that are ABL customers and either already have established operations in the Philippines or are planning to expand their activities here.

ABL, a regional bank with headquarters in Utsunomiya, Tochigi prefecture north of Tokyo, currently has 134 branches, including satellite offices and commercial banking services.

The Japanese bank has over 70,000 corporate clients and expects to “grow its roster of customers in the Philippines with new investments and business matching deals,” BDO said.

This deal makes ABL the 17th Japanese bank that BDO has established ties with.

BDO established its Japan Desk in 2007 mainly to support the banking and retail needs of Japanese customers.

The banking arm of the SM Group booked a 12-percent growth in net profit in the January to September 2024 period at P60.6 billion—again recording the highest nine-month earnings in Philippine corporate history.

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Net interest income rose by 8.7 percent to P138.27 billion due to a 13-percent expansion in gross customer loans as all market segments saw growth.

The nonperforming loans ratio, a key indicator of asset quality, improved to 1.82 percent from 1.99 percent.

Total assets as of end-September stood at P4.8 trillion.

Noninterest income jumped by 16 percent on growth in fees and service charges, treasury and foreign exchange gains and income from insurance operations.