EastWest Bank, a member of the Filinvest Group, saw core revenues increase by 12 percent to P28.1 billion last year.

Excluding one-off items in 2021, the bank's P4.6 billion net income in 2022 was up by 42 percent on the back of improved earning capacity.

"We accelerated our loan bookings in the second half across all lending products which improved our earning capacity back to pre-pandemic levels. We intend to exceed this in 2023 as we carry on the momentum from last year," EastWest President Jackie Fernandez said.

Total assets closed at P421.4 billion in 2022 with the balance sheet structure shifting largely toward higher yielding consumer lending assets.

Loans also rose by 20 percent because of credit cards, business loans and key salary loan segments as the bank took advantage of an economic recovery.

Total deposits were steady at P329.20 billion with its current and savings account (CASA) ratio improving to 79 percent in 2022 from 75 percent.

EastWest invested heavily on IT systems to help improve its digital services and prime it for faster digital innovations, which in turn increased its operating expenses by 3 percent to P17.0 billion in 2022.

Its capital ratios continued to stand at a healthy 13.80 percent and 13 percent for capital adequacy and Common Equity Tier 1, respectively, well above the regulatory requirements.

"The full year impact of our 2022 asset build-up will be felt this year on our core income performance. The growth momentum should improve this further as we exceed pre-pandemic asset levels this year. Though we expect some headwinds particularly from the higher interest rate environment, the country's growth prospects remain intact," newly appointed EastWest Chief Executive Officer Jerry Ngo said.

https://businessmirror.com.ph/2023/03/21/high-consumer-loans-boost-eastwests-2022-income/