Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. (Metrobank) said net profit in the third quarter rose sharply after setting aside fewer loan loss provisions, and as income from the core lending business remained weak.
Net profit rose 153% year-on-year to P4.482 billion in the three months to September, it said in financial statements filed with the bourse Friday.
Nine-month net profit was P16.279 billion, up 45% from a year earlier.
Return on equity and return on assets were 6.7% and 0.88% respectively at the end of September, up from the 4.68% and 0.61% posted a year earlier.
Net interest income declined 11.9% year-on-year to P18.839 billion in the third quarter, with lower income from the loan business offsetting the higher profits from trading and securities investments.
Provisions for possible loan losses during the quarter amounted to P2.99 billion, down 76% a year earlier. Nine-month provisions totaled P10.02 billion, down 71% from a year earlier.
Non-interest income dropped 40% year-on-year to P5.527 billion in the third quarter.
Operating expenses rose 4.9% to P15.066 billion during the quarter.
Loans amounted to P1.173 trillion at the end of September, with the non-performing loan (NPL) ratio at 2.12%, against 2.25% a year earlier.
Deposit liabilities were at P1.851 trillion at the end of September.
The capital adequacy ratio (CAR) was 20.66% at the end of September, while common equity Tier 1 was 19.79%, both well above the minimum regulatory requirements.
Metrobank has over 2,000 domestic and international branches to date.
Metrobank shares closed at P49.20 Friday, down 1.3%. — Luz Wendy T. Noble