Philippine banks' half-year profits up 26% to $2.11b

Net interest income hit $8.24b and non-interest income rose to $1.69b.

Philippine banks enjoyed a strong half-year after profits surged 26.4% YoY in the first six months to $2.11b (PHP109.77b) from $1.67b (PHP86.87b) amidst strong gains in interest and non-interest income, reports Philippine Star citing data from the central bank.

Also read: Can Philippine banks ride out the bad loan wave?

In a breakdown, the earnings of universal and commercial banks or big banks rose 30% YoY to $1.93b (PHP100.61b) in the first half of the year.

On the other hand, profits of thrift or mid-sized banks fell from $154.08m (PHP8.03b) to $147.17m (PHP7.67b) amidst higher interest expenses and higher provision for losses on accrued interest income from financial assets.

Also read: Philippine banks' loan growth to slow to 11% in 2019

As a whole, the operating income of the Philippine banking sector rose 12.2% to $6.96b (PHP363.32b), as net interest income rose 31.7% to $8.24b (PHP429.55b). Non-interest income increased by 9.2% to $1.69b (PHP88.22b).

Earnings from fees and commission also grew 10.9% to $919.72m (PHP47.95b), whilst trading income surged 49.7% to $608.22m (PHP31.71b).

Likewise, gains from foreign exchange transactions amounted to $93.41m (PHP4.87b), whilst foreign exchange profit fell by 28.2% to $40.47m (PHP2.11b).