Philippine Savings Bank, the thrift banking arm of the Metrobank Group, registered a net income of P2.85 billion for the first nine months of 2022, a more than double growth of 126 percent year-on-year versus the P1.26 billion in the same period last year.

The solid income performance is a result of improvements in loan portfolio quality, increases in non-core revenue streams, gains from operational efficiencies, and improved loan volumes.

Net interest income reached P8.21 billion, while revenues from net service fees, commissions, and asset recoveries rose by 52 percent to P3.11 billion. Operating expenses remained in check, growing only by 1 percent year-on-year. The bank continues to implement productivity and operational efficiency improvements to manage costs even as investments are continuous to support digital initiatives.

The gross non-performing loans ratio went down significantly by almost half to 3.6 percent from 6.6 percent a year ago. With improving asset quality, the bank reduced credit provisions to P969 million from P2.77 billion last year. The net non-performing loans ratio was at 1.6 percent by end-September 2022, an improvement from last quarter's 2.0 percent and far lower than the 3.9 percent of the same period in 2021.

PSBank's total assets reached P252.96 billion as of 30 September 2022. Deposits were at P203.19 billion, with low-cost deposits growing by 6 percent year-on-year. Total capital funds grew 6 percent to P36.80 billion. Capital Adequacy and Equity Tier 1 Ratios improved further to 24.9 percent and 23.9 percent respectively, both of which are well above the regulatory requirement of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

"Our retail proposition has been consistent. We have remained steadfast in our commitment to make banking simpler for our customers. With the improving levels of consumer spending, we have managed to book higher loan volumes specifically for auto and home during the first nine months of 2022. We hope to see this momentum to carry through till year-end even as market conditions remain volatile. We will keep our digital service channels robust, reliable and secure, dedicated to consistently provide exceptional customer experience at every touchpoint," PSBank President Jose Vicente L. Alde said.

With the industry move to shift to digital payments, PSBank recently enabled the scanning of QRPh ("Scan to Pay") as a payment mode to retail stores and merchants via PSBank Mobile. QRPh is the National QR Code Standard which unifies different domestic QR-based cashless payment schemes into one standard, thereby allowing interoperability among participating institutions.