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THE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said it
approved Allied Banking Corp.’s plan to increase its stake in New
York Life Insurance (Philippines) Inc. (NYLIP), making the Lucio
Tan-controlled lender a majority owner of the insurance company.
In a disclosure to the Philippine
Stock Exchange, Allied Bank said it will increase its equity
investment by 50 percent in the amount of P116.7 million.
This will raise Allied Bank’s
stake in NYLIP to 75 percent.
The sale will be done in two
tranches of 50 percent and 25 percent until October next year.
“Acquisition of the majority
ownership of NYLIP is in line with Allied Bank’s business
plans,” said Fabian A. Pagaduan, Allied Bank’s first vice
president.
Manuel G. Simon, acting head of
the BSP’s Supervision and Examination department, said the equity
investment shall not exceed 25 percent of the total bank’s net
worth.
Also, the total amount of
investment in equities made by the bank shall not exceed 50 percent
of the bank’s net worth.
Allied Bank posted a 20.4-percent
growth in profits at P1.489 billion last year from P1.237 billion in
2005 because of higher interest income and fees. The lender said its
revenues had been boosted by the increased appetite for consumer
products and by bigger volumes of remittances from Filipinos working
overseas.
--Maricel E. Burgonio
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