The profits of Metropolitan Bank & Trust Company headed by Fabian Dee soared 60.2 percent to P22.2 billion last year from P13.83 billion in 2020 as provision for bad debts plunged by 71 percent as the country continued to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Our positive performance in 2021 validates our strategies of fortifying our balance sheet and proactive provisioning during the pandemic,” Dee said.
The Ty-led bank said operating income reached P101.4 billion as net interest margin has stabilized at 3.4 percent since the second quarter of last year.
This was attributed to the sequential and sustained quarterly recovery in corporate and credit card loans, reflecting improving business and consumer confidence.
The bank also reported a 12 percent increase in low cost current and savings accounts (CASA) to P1.5 trillion, helping trim over-all funding cost.
Likewise, fees and other non-interest income jumped by 27 percent to P21.1 billion on the back of higher transaction volumes and cross selling strategies, which mitigated lower trading income.
On the other hand, operating costs were kept under control at P59.5 billion as efforts to improve efficiencies continued to pay off.
Despite the challenging conditions last year despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Metrobank’s non-performing loans (NPLs) fell by 12 percent, trimming its NPL ratio to 2.2 percent from the previous year’s 2.4 percent.
Furthermore, its NPL cover further improved to 174.7 percent last year from 163 percent in 2020.
Metrobank’s provision for soured loans was down to only P11.83 billion in 2021 from a record P40.76 billion in 2020.
“The bank has emerged stronger and well-prepared to meet the needs of our stakeholders as the economy moves towards full recovery,” Dee added.
For the fourth quarter alone, Metrobank’s earnings more than doubled to about P6 billion on the back of the decline in provisions as the bank’s loan portfolio stayed healthy.
Metrobank ended 2021 as the country’s second largest private universal bank with consolidated assets of P2.5 trillion and total equity of P318.5 billion. Its capital adequacy ratio stood at 19.3 percent, while its common equity tier 1 ratio was at 18.4 percent.
