Eastwest Named Among The Strongest Philippine Banks

EastWest Bank, the banking arm of the Filinvest Development Corporation, was named eighth strongest bank in the country, up by 5 notches from its 13th ranking in 2012, in The Asian Banker 500 released this month. EastWest has consistently been included in the Asian Banker 500 list of strongest and largest banks in the region since 2011.

The AB500, now in its 13th year, is an annual study of the financial and business performance of the commercial banking industry in the Asia Pacific region. Banks are ranked using a balanced scorecard approach which considers six factors such as scale, balance sheet growth, risk profile, profitability, asset quality and liquidity based on data gathered from bank annual reports, statistics provided by central banks and industry associations.

The study reported that among all countries in the Asia Pacific region, the Philippines achieved the highest balance sheet growth, with assets, loans and deposits up by 31%, 25% and 38%, respectively, in 2013. It also mentioned that, overall, Asia Pacific banks registered slower growth pace in assets, loans and deposits as compared to 2012.

EastWest posted positive performance amid the challenges posed by the general market volatility in 2013. The bank continues to deliver solid results, posting above-industry average loan growth and the high margins year on year.

“We have managed to sustain our aggressive growth and outstanding performance in the last five years through painstaking and deliberate actions. We invested in progressive IT systems, including those for our credit cards business, treasury, finance, risk management, call center operations, and collections, among others. In addition, we have intensified our store network expansion, which is now more than twice our store network two years ago. We expect to have at least 400 by end of the year,” said EastWest Chairman Jonathan T. Gotianun.

Among all local banks, EastWest continues to be among the most consumer-focused universal bank with its consumer portfolio taking up more than half of its total loans.

“Our focused strategy: We are a universal bank, with a clear retail bias, catering to mid-sized businesses, and the consumer. This is why we needed to expand our distribution reach. We will acquire the breadth and depth of a bank that is truly national in scale once we complete our store expansion program this year,” said EastWest President and CEO Antonio C. Moncupa, Jr.

Earlier this month, EastWest announced a net income of P599.61 Million for Q3 2014, higher by 31.60% versus Q3 2013. For the nine-month period, net income was at Php 1.6 billion or 5% lower than the level in the same period last year mainly as a result of lower trading gains. The bank posted double-digit growth in its core business of loans and deposits which grew year-on-year by 28% and 34%, respectively, for the first nine months of 2014.

On the back of its strong profit growth, EastWest was also able to maintain a high level of capital adequacy and good credit quality. The AB500 ranking is an affirmation of its financial strength to demonstrate long-term profitability from its core businesses.