LandBank posts P6.2-B net income in Jan.-July

Government-owned Land Bank of the Philippines posted a 25-percent increase in its net income to P6.2 billion in the first seven months of the year. LandBank president Gilda Pico said the figure is P1.2 billion higher than the net income in the same period last year, and keeps the bank on track to meet its P8.5-billion full-year target. As such, the bank was able to remit some P4 billion to the national coffers. The bank said income for the period came from higher investment returns and loan transactions. In July, the bank's loans outstanding went up by 18.6 percent to P245 billion, while new loan releases to small farmers and fishermen jumped 33 percent to P16.6 billion in the seven-month period. To boost its results in the coming months, Land Bank said it has partnered with Poste Italiane — the Italian Post Office — to expand its remittance network abroad. Reevie Vergara, Land Bank's first vice president for Treasury Group and head of the Remittance Group, said the partnership is similar to the agreement it forged with similar institutions in Japan and Korea last year. Remittance business Overseas Filipinos in Italy can open a deposit account and send funds to LandBank accounts in the Philippines through the 14,000 branches of the Poste Italiane. Funds received in the Philippines may be withdrawn through any of LandBank's 900 automated teller machines in the country. Vergara said these partnerships will help the bank to grow its remittance business by as much as 7 percent this year. In 2010, Land Bank handled some $683 million in remittances from across the globe. It’s remittance business is expected to hit $770 million this year. In January to June, the bank processed about $355 million worth of remittances, Vergara said. — JMT/VS, GMA News