Philippine Bank of Communications, the country’s 19th-largest lender in terms of assets, said Monday net income in the first half jumped 464 percent to P326.5 million from P57.871 million a year ago. PBCom in a disclosure to the stock exchange noted an improvement in operating income, which increased 14.6 percent or P256 million year-on-year. The bank’s continuing focus to manage cost through streamlined operations kept operating expenses relatively flat compared to the first half 2016. Cost to income ratio decreased from 90.2 percent to 78.8 percent as the bank’s initiatives to further increase operational efficiencies continued to bear fruit. Growth in lending and trading activities was supported by an increase in the bank’s deposits and deposit substitutes, which expanded by P4.5 billion.

Source: The Standard August 14, 2017 11:48 UTC