The Philippine National Bank posted a Net Income of Php 1.3 billion for the first quarter of 2014. Last year’s first quarter performance was 53% higher, which was mainly brought about by substantial gains in trading and investment securities. The Bank’s Net Interest Income, which accounted for 68% of the Bank’s total operating income, rose by 70% to Php 4.5 billion. This was a result of a 31% increase in interest income, coupled with a 38% decline in interest expense. During the quarter, the Bank’s loan portfolio increased by P4.3 billion across all customer segments despite the squeeze in margins amidst a low interest rate environment. With the redemption of the Bank’s P4.5 billion unsecured subordinated debt with an interest rate of 7.13%, the Bank’s interest expense was substantially reduced.

The Philippine National Bank posted a Net Income of Php 1.3 billion for the first quarter of 2014. Last year’s first quarter performance was 53% higher, which was mainly brought about by substantial gains in trading and investment securities. The Bank’s Net Interest Income, which accounted for 68% of the Bank’s total operating income, rose by 70% to Php 4.5 billion. This was a result of a 31% increase in interest income, coupled with a 38% decline in interest expense. During the quarter, the Bank’s loan portfolio increased by P4.3 billion across all customer segments despite the squeeze in margins amidst a low interest rate environment. With the redemption of the Bank’s P4.5 billion unsecured subordinated debt with an interest rate of 7.13%, the Bank’s interest expense was substantially reduced.

The Bank’s consolidated assets reached Php 611.9 billion for the first quarter of 2014. Two years after the sale of a significant amount of Held to Maturity (HTM) securities in October 2011, the Bank reclassified P18.3 billion of its Available for Sale Investments to HTM investments to mitigate the marked-to-market impact on the Bank’s investment securities due to market volatilities.

The Bank’s gross non-performing loans (NPL) decreased to Php 10.3 Billion as of March 31, 2014. The Bank’s net NPL ratio was 1.3% while the gross NPL coverage was 93%. The Bank beefed up its capital through a Stock Rights Offering in February 2014. The Bank has successfully completed its Stock Rights Offering of 162,931,262 common shares with a par value of Php 40.00 per share, at a price of Php 71.00 each. The Offer was oversubscribed and raised gross proceeds of Php 11.6 billion. As a result, the Bank’s consolidated equity stood at Php 87.9 billion, up by 4.8% from the year-ago level. Consequently, its consolidated riskbased capital adequacy ratio (CAR), computed based on BSP Circular 781 (BASEL III guidelines), was at 19.5%, exceeding the regulatory 10% CAR. Likewise, the consolidated Common Equity Tier 1 (CET 1) ratio was at 16.1%, surpassing the BSP’s minimum threshold of 8.5% with conservation buffer.

In recognition of the Bank’s business excellence, two of its products and services recently garnered accolades from industry peers. ATM Safe won the Best in Innovation Award in the 2013 Philippine Insurers and Reinsurance Association, Inc. (PIRA) Awards while the Healthy Ka Pinoy (HKP) Emergency Card won the award for Excellence in Business Model Innovation in the 2013 Asian Trailblazer Awards of Retail Banker International.