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The banking arm of the Aboitiz group said it will grow its lending
business at a modest pace this year as it anticipates increased
borrowing from consumers and private firms that would be taking
advantage of the low interest rate regime.
Victor Valdepeñas, Union Bank of the
Philippines president, said loans this year may grow by 10 percent
with consumer borrowings seen to make up the bulk of its portfolio
at 35 percent. Union Bank also expects brisk sales from its credit
card business, which may push its consumer loans to 40 percent of
its total loan portfolio, growing 17 percent to P41.4 billion year
on year in the first nine months of last year.
Corporate loans may grow by 10 percent to 15
percent as companies would raise their capital expenditures. “Our
corporate book has been expanding quite significantly. We get a lot
of syndicated loans, for example. Conglomerates are beginning to
have more appetite, especially as far as the utilities sector is
concerned,” Valdepeñas said.
At end-Septmber, the country’s seventh largest
bank posted a net income of P2.6 billion, or 58 percent higher than
in 2006 on the back of a 25-percent growth in gross interest income
from loans to P2.7 billion. Market capitalization increased by more
than 46 percent to P17.8 billion after it sold additional shares
last year.
-- Likha C. Cuevas-Miel
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