Union Bank of the Philippines (UBP) posted a net income of P12.7 billion in 2022. The earnings result translated to a return on average equity of 9.7%, which takes into consideration the impact of the P40.0 billion additional capital coming from the Stock Rights Offer last May 2022. Revenues mainly came from net interest income and feebased income, which compensated for the absence of trading gains.
Net revenues reached a record high of P52.2 billion, 16% higher year-on-year (YoY). Net interest income increased by 31% to P38.9 billion on account of higher margins and volume. Net interest margins expanded by 27 basis points to 4.9% driven by the higher proportion of consumer loans to total loans and the robust growth of low-cost CASA deposits (up 29% YoY). Fees and other income doubled to P13.4 billion largely due to the consolidation of the acquired Citi consumer business, as well as growing digital customer transactions.
Total assets were at P1.1 trillion, 31% higher than prior year. Customer loans jumped by 42% to P479.2 billion, resulting from the combined growth in UBP and CitySavings consumer loans, as well as the acquired Citi consumer business. Total deposits went up by 25% to P711.3 billion due to the overall expansion of the retail customer base and the strong take up of cash management products from large corporates.
“In 2022, we witnessed a momentous shift in our business model. We have a solid balance sheet that continues to provide us above industry net interest margins. The shift in digital also allowed us to grow our fees coming from mobile fund transfers and payments. We were able to book the same bottomline as the previous year, but with less reliance on trading,” said Manuel R. Lozano, Executive Vice President and Chief Finance Officer.
“At the start of 2022, we made a commitment to execute on key strategic imperatives. First, the seamless integration of the acquired Citi consumer business, which includes customers and employees. Second, the commercial launch of UnionDigital as one of the six digital banks licensed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. We delivered on our promise and the market has rewarded us for it. Our recent stock performance, increase in stock trading volumes, and the strong commitment from our major shareholders on our Stock Rights Offering reflect shareholders’ trust in the value that will be created from the execution of our strategies,” said Edwin R. Bautista, President and Chief Executive Officer.
