Asia United Bank (AUB) boosted its net income in the first quarter by 34 percent to P3.1 billion on the back of increased loans and improved asset quality.

AUB reported to the Philippine Stock Exchange that this was an increase from the P2.3 billion recorded in the same period of 2024.

The growth was driven by a 34 percent expansion in loan portfolio to P252.6 billion from P188.4 billion year-on-year.

At the same time, the bank managed to improve its non-performing loans ratio to 0.35 percent, declining from the 0.47 percent seen last year.

Given the healthier loan levels, AUB reduced loan loss provision by 15 percent to P66 million from P78 million.

“We have managed to sustain the growth in our profitability since the pandemic, thanks to our robust core business and digital partnerships,” said AUB president Manuel Gomez.

Non-interest income or service fees surged by 81 percent to P1.3 billion due to increased transactions for credit cards, trading, remittances, fund transfers, and payments.

E-wallet picks up

AUB attributed the growth to the effective promotion of AUB PayMate, a business payments tool, and the e-wallet HelloMoney.

The bank recently relaunched HelloMoney at the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange which is visited by over 100 million bus passengers each year.

Total deposits rose by 9 percent to P308.1 billion, although the bulk or 69 percent consisted of current and savings accounts with low interest expense.

Operating expenses grew by 9 percent to P1.8 billion, driven by higher employee wages and investments on other key resources.

Total assets increased by 11 percent to P384 billion while total equity jumped by 22 percent to P61.8 billion.

Accordingly, AUB posted a higher return on equity at 22.3 percent from 20 percent, and a return on assets of 3.4 percent from 2.8 percent last year.