MAKATI CITY - Buoyed by strong demand for cars and real estate in the first three months of the year, United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB) expanded its consumer loan portfolio by 34 percent or P1 billion to P3.9 billion at the end of the first quarter of 2007 from P2.9 billion a year ago.
UCPB first vice president for consumer banking David Mercado said the bank posted growth across all product lines during the period, with auto loans increasing by 53 percent, from P1.1 billion to P1.7 billion; real estate loans by 20 percent, from P1.5 billion to P1.8 billion; and personal loans by nine percent, from P287 million to P313 million.
Mercado said a big chunk of the growth came in the first three months of 2007 with the bank nearly doubling its consumer loan bookings to P458 million from only P244 million in the same period last year.
Branches
UCPB’s 38 branches in the Visayas and Mindanao generated a tenth of the bookings.
UCPB’s first quarter consumer loan bookings were boosted by the introduction of three new products: a secondhand car financing, a real estate-secured small business loan and a no-collateral salary loan for employees of private companies.
The three newly launched products accounted for a sixth of the bank’s consumer loan volume during the period, Mercado said.
Noting that the early part of the year is historically a lean season for consumer loans, Mercado said the strong demand in the first quarter of 2007 could signal an even higher demand for the rest of the year, which augurs well for the bank.
Target
UCPB is targeting to increase it consumer loan portfolio to P5.56 billion at the end of 2007, from P3.66 billion in 2006.
Mercado said UCPB is well positioned to sustain the growth of its consumer loan portfolio, pointing out that huge increase in the bank’s deposits, particularly the low-cost current account and savings account (Casa) deposits, has enhanced its competitive posture.
UCPB reported earlier that its total deposits increased 11 percent to P83.6 billion at the end of the first quarter of 2007 versus a year ago on the back of the robust growth in Casa deposits, which rose by P4.7 billion from P30.1 billion to P34.8 billion.
