PH bank’s Q4 loan grew by 5.93%, fastest since the start of pandemic

Loans made to Philippine banks during the fourth quarter of 2021 jumped 5.93% year on year to P10.15 trillion (US$193 billion), compared to the 3.24% growth in the preceding quarter.
The latest edition of BusinessWorld’s quarterly banking report showed that this figure is marked as the fastest pace ever since the COVID-19 pandemic started in Q1 2020.
Meanwhile, aggregate assets in the same period grew by 8.59% to P20.56 trillion (US$392 billion), slower from the year-on-year growth of 8.97% in the third quarter of 2021.
At the same time, the median return on equity (RoE), which is an indicator of profitability, slipped to 3.11% from the 3.36% in the preceding quarter.
Nonperforming loans (NPLs) also went down by 7.11% to P371.65 billion (US$7 billion) quarter-on-quarter, bringing the country’s NPL ratio to 3.95%.
When comparing universal and commercial banks (U/KBs) in terms of combined assets, BDO remained at the top with P3.560 trillion (US$68 billion).
It was followed by Land Bank of the Philippines (LANDBANK) with P2.922 trillion (US$55 billion) and Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. (Metrobank) with P2.507 trillion (US$47 billion).