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Keisha Ta-Asan - The Philippine Star
February 21, 2025 | 12:00am
AUB president Manuel Gomez, in a statement, said the sustained growth in profitability was due to the bank’s robust core business and digital partnerships.
Businessworld / File
MANILA, Philippines — Rebisco-led Asia United Bank (AUB) and its subsidiaries saw earnings jump by 36 percent to a record high of P11.3 billion in 2024 from P8.3 billion in 2023.
The bank traced the strong performance last year to double-digit growth in loan portfolio and a steady decline in loan loss provisions.
AUB president Manuel Gomez, in a statement, said the sustained growth in profitability was due to the bank’s robust core business and digital partnerships.
“AUB is able to reach out to many Filipinos, including the unbanked and underserved, to offer digital payment solutions such as our all-in-one digital payment acceptance product AUB PayMate, as well as revolutionize cross-border digital payments through our HelloMoney e-wallet, among others,” Gomez said.
The latest income figure translated to an increase in return on equity of 21 percent from 18.6 percent and a return on assets of three percent from 2.4 percent – both record highs since the bank had its initial public offering in 2013.
Amid the still-high interest rate environment, AUB saw its net interest margin widen by 11 percent to P16.8 billion due to higher interest income from the bank’s loan portfolio and investment activities
AUB’s revenue growth mainly came from its loan portfolio, which grew 26 percent to P245.4 billion in 2024 from P194.5 billion a year ago.
Credit quality further improved, with AUB’s nonperforming loan ratio at a record low of 0.3 percent and loan loss provision reduced by 74 percent. The bank also remained sufficiently covered, with an NPL coverage ratio at 113.7 percent.
The bank’s low-cost deposit remained its primary source of funding, with a 71 percent share of total deposits.
Non-interest income also grew 48 percent to P4.1 billion from improved foreign exchange gains, recovery income as well as service charges and other fees from other operating activities.
Meanwhile, operating expenses rose by six percent to P6.8 billion mainly due to higher compensation, capital expenditures and business growth-related expenses. Cost-to-income ratio went down to 32.8 percent from the previous year’s 36.2 percent.
Total assets increased by nine percent to P386 billion while total equity went up 19 percent to P58.4 billion, mainly from retained earnings.
The bank is adequately capitalized with capital ratios well above regulatory requirements. It has an indicative common equity tier 1 ratio of 17 percent and a capital adequacy ratio of 17.8 percent, higher than previous year’s 16.9 percent and 17.5 percent, respectively.
“We hope to sustain our growth momentum as we start reaping the full benefits of the government’s National ID system,” Gomez said.
AUB was the first privately owned universal bank to enter into a colocation partnership agreement with the Philippine Statistics Authority, after integrating the PSA’s eVerify into its HelloMoney e-wallet last year.
The bank has already successfully gained around 94,000 new HelloMoney users as of Feb. 3. It expects its six million HelloMoney customer accounts to further grow as it brings the benefits of the National ID closer to more Filipinos.
