PHL banks’ net profit up 3.57% at end-Sept.

THE COMBINED income of Philippine banks climbed by 3.57% in the first nine months of the year as lenders booked higher interest and non-interest earnings during the period.

- Katherine K. Chan

Preliminary data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed that banks’ net profit rose to P300.418 billion in the period from P290.056 billion a year ago.

Universal and commercial banks made up bulk of the total as they booked a P283.155-billion net income in the nine-month period, while thrift lenders posted net earnings of P15.897 billion.

Meanwhile, digital banks posted a combined net loss of P3.971 billion.

There was no available data on rural and cooperative banks’ income for the period.

The banking sector’s net interest income jumped by 11.01% to P851.472 billion at end-September from P767.039 billion a year earlier.

This came as interest income grew 8.46% year on year to P1.205 trillion from P1.111 trillion, outpacing the 2.51% uptick in interest expense to P351.599 billion from P342.975 billion.

Meanwhile, banks’ non-interest earnings went up 7.64% to P185.081 billion in the nine-month period from P171.943 billion last year.

This was mainly driven by the 12.41% increase in earnings from fees and commissions to P133.285 billion from P118.567 billion. Other income also surged 52.27% to P30.247 billion from the P19.864 billion seen in the third quarter of 2024. This helped offset the 70.37% plunge in trading income to P5.589 billion from P18.86 billion, which was primarily due to a combined net loss from foreign exchange transactions.

On the other hand, banks' non-interest expenses climbed by 9.91% to P573.234 billion in the first nine months from P521.539 billion in the same period last year.