November 12, 2025 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — Earnings of Philippine banks rose by 3.6 percent to P300.42 billion from January to September compared to last year’s P290 billion, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
Banks’ operating income increased by 10.2 percent to P1.04 trillion during the nine-month period from P939.98 billion in the same period last year.
The sector’s net interest income rose by 11 percent to P851.47 billion from P767.04 billion as interest earnings went up by nine percent to P1.21 trillion from P1.11 trillion, while interest expenses grew by 2.5 percent to P351.6 billion from P343 billion.
Likewise, banks’ non-interest earnings grew by 7.6 percent to P185 billion from P171.9 billion on higher profit from fees and commissions.
Profit from fees and commissions jumped by 12.4 percent to P133.29 billion from P118.6 billion. On the other hand, trading income fell by 70.4 percent to P5.59 billion from P18.9 billion.
Lenders’ non-interest expenses stood at P573.23 billion as of September, 9.9 percent higher than the P521.54 billion in the comparable year-ago period.
Philippine banks continue to allocate more provision for credit losses. During the nine-month period, provision for bad debts surged by 56.7 percent to P134.35 billion from P85.74 billion in the same period last year.
Meanwhile, the amount of soured loans written off surged to P3.18 billion, 38.9 percent higher than the P2.29 billion a year ago.
For universal and commercial banks, their net income increased by 4.2 percent to P283.16 billion from January to September compared to last year’s P271.73 billion.
Sy-led BDO Unibank reported a four-percent jump in net income to P63.3 billion from January to September, followed by Ayala-led Bank of the Philippine Islands with 5.2 percent to P50.5 billion and Ty-led Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. with a four-percent increase to P37.3 billion.
Philippine banks also continued to book double-digit growth in assets, expanding by 7.6 percent to P28.76 trillion in September from P26.73 trillion in the same month last year.
