Philippine Savings Bank (PSBank), the thrift-banking arm of the Metrobank Group, saw its net income increase by 2.5% to P1.4 billion in the first half of 2019 from P1.3 billion in the same period last year.

The bank’s loans and receivables increased by 6.8% to P160.8 billion from P150.5 billion in 2018. Auto and mortgage loans continued to be the main contributors for growth in consumer lending, while the increase in SME loans reinforced growth in commercial lending. As PSBank saw its lending portfolio grow, it managed to keep non-performing loans (NPL) in check, with its net NPL ratio at 2.8%, better than the previous quarter’s 3.1%.

Total interest income rose by 8.6% to P8.6 billion, from P8.0 billion year-on-year; while other operating income – which includes net service fees and commissions – registered a 16.2% increase to P1.7 billion from P1.4 billion in 2018.

“The sustainability of our revenues coming from our consumer loans, supported by a bank-wide mindset of increasing productivity via process streamlining and automation, truly helped us generate strong financial results for the first half of 2019. Our customer-centric and technology-driven approach is a blueprint that will help us prepare for the future,” said Jose Vicente L. Alde, president, PSBank.

PSBank’s total deposits were lower at P179.4 billion from P200.1 billion in the same period last year, as it re-balanced its funding profile to emphasize more on retail deposits and alternative funding sources. Low-cost deposits, on the other hand, were up by 4.5% year-on-year reaching P55.9 billion from P53.5 billion.

PSBank was also able to raise P6.3 billion in its Peso Fixed Rate Bond offering last July 1, 2019 – the proceeds of which will give PSBank an opportunity to access long-term funding as it further expands its consumer banking business.

PSBank’s Total Capital Adequacy Ratio was at 18.6% while its Common Equity Tier 1 Ratio was at 16.1% – both being above the minimum level set by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).