BPI booked record-high profit of P62B in ’24

An expanding loan portfolio as a result of its recent merger propelled the earnings of Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) last year by 20 percent to a record-high P62 billion.

In a stock exchange filing on Monday, the Ayala-led bank said its revenues had swelled by 23 percent to P170.1 billion.

This was on the back of BPI’s net interest income jumping by 22.3 percent to P127.6 billion.

Total loans ended at P2.3 trillion, up by 18.2 percent, buoyed by BPI’s merger with the Gokongweis’ Robinsons Bank Corp.

Without the portfolio acquired from Robinsons Bank, growth would have been at 13 percent, BPI said in its disclosure.

Noninstitutional loans, which include business banking, personal loans and microfinance, likewise lifted the lending expansion, with the entire segment growing by 11.1 percent.

As a result of its loan book expansion, however, BPI’s nonperforming loans ratio inched up to 2.13 percent from 1.84 percent the previous year.

Likewise, its expenses for bad debts surged by 65 percent to P6.6 billion.

P3.3T assets

Meanwhile, noninterest income reached P42.6 billion, representing a 25.3-percent surge on gains from its credit card, wealth management and bancassurance businesses.

As of end-December, the country’s third largest bank saw its total assets rise by 14.9 percent to P3.3 trillion.

BPI’s financial performance last year translated to a return on equity of 15.1 percent and return on assets of 2 percent.

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In the fourth quarter alone, BPI’s net income inched up by 8 percent to P14.1 billion due to higher revenues.

Analysts have said that the country’s banks are likely to book their best performance in 2024, especially after the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas had cut the rates for overnight borrowing by a total of 50 basis points.

Rate cuts typically result in higher demand for loans due to the lower cost of borrowing.

BPI president and CEO Jose Teodoro Limcaoco earlier told reporters that they were expecting even stronger revenue performance in 2025.

Limcaoco is banking on a robust economic growth this year to drive profits.