China Banking Corp. (Chinabank) grew its net income by 6 percent to P11.4 billion in the first half from the same period last year.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Thursday, Chinabank said net interest income jumped by 19 percent to P30.4 billion.

This resulted from gross loans of P817 billion that grew 10 percent year-on-year.

Chinabank said consumer loans expanded its lending portfolio as it increased by 25 percent and accounted for a quarter share.

Non-performing loans (NPL) ratio was better than the industry average at 1.9 percent, resulting in a lower coverage for bad loans at P737 million.

However, NPL coverage remained above industry at 141 percent amid the high-interest environment.

Double-digit deposits rise

Meanwhile, deposits increased by 14 percent to P1.3 trillion which was above industry average.

Net interest margin improved by 25 basis points to 4.4 percent as the bank earned higher interest income than costs on deposits.

Operating expenses slightly grew by 5 percent to P14.1 billion due to higher taxes. Due to efficient management, the cost-to-income ratio was still better at 49 percent.

Accordingly, Chinabank’s capital grew by 10 percent to P152 billion.

Return on equity stood at 15.1 percent, while return on assets settled at 1.5 percent, both were among the highest in the industry.