Trading gains, fee-based income drive BDO earnings up

Trading gains and fee-based income drove Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. earnings higher in the nine-month to September. In a statement to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Thursday, BDO said net income in January to September rose 19 percent to P7.6 billion from P6.4 billion a year earlier. "Recurring fee-based income from service businesses... rose 17 percent to P8.8 billion, driven by strong growth from asset and wealth management, payments and electronic banking, insurance and capital markets," the bank said. It “also managed to post a 16-percent increase in trading and foreign exchange gains to P5.1 billion despite the volatile external market conditions," BDO added. Gross customer loans improved 24 percent to P620.8 billion, while total deposits climbed 15 percent to P820.6 billion. Operating expenses, meanwhile, grew 5 percent to P27 billion. The bank's non-performing loans declined to as of end-September 3.9 percent from 4.7 percent at the end of 2010. BDO said its capital adequacy ratio rose to 15 percent, following an P8.5-billion Tier 2 issue in June. It issued an additional P6.5 billion worth of Tier 2 notes last October to further supplement its capital position and complete its P15-billion capital program. — CMA/VS, GMA News