RCBC earnings soar 71% this year

By: Phil Star
Source: philstar

Released

MANILA, Philippines — The earnings of Yuchengco-led Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) surged by 71 percent to an all-time high of P12.1 billion last year from P7.1 billion in 2021, supported by the double-digit increase in core business income.

RCBC president and CEO Eugene Acevedo said the listed bank continues to work hard to accelerate its transformation journey.

“Delivering best-in-class customer experience remains our main thrust. And so we are excited to develop more digital innovations and disruptive solutions that can reshape the way we do banking,” Acevedo said.

The country’s fifth largest bank in terms of assets said the feat was achieved via significant expansion in various business segments last year.

The bank said investment securities jumped by over 70 percent year-on-year, while loans to small and medium enterprises (SMEs), as well as credit cards posted solid double-digit increases.

“The credit card business recorded a faster-than-industry growth in billings and balances, while keeping non-performing loans at its lowest in over a decade. Data science and analytics were instrumental in boosting customer acquisition and cross-selling to augment the bank’s foothold across key segments,” RCBC said.

According to the bank, fee income likewise showed marked improvement of 19 percent last year due to higher retail, bancassurance and digital transactions.

It added that its return on equity stood at 11.2 percent, while return on assets improved to 1.2 percent in 2022.

Likewise, RCBC kept its capital ratios well above regulatory requirements, with a capital adequacy ratio (CAR) of 15.29 percent and common equity tier (CET) 1 ratio of 12.33 percent.

With an upcoming P27 billion capital injection from Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. (SMBC), RCBC can reinforce its asset growth trajectory to become one of the biggest banks in the country.

With P1.2 trillion in total resources as of end-2022, RCBC said it is now the fifth biggest privately owned bank in the country.