ASIA United Bank (AUB) and its subsidiaries posted a consolidated net income of P8.3 billion in 2023, a 32 percent increase from the previous year’s P6.3 billion and the highest in its 26-year history.
Based on unaudited financial results, the latest income figure translates to a return on equity (ROE) of 18.6 percent and a return on assets (ROA) of 2.38 percent — both record highs since the bank had its initial public offering in 2013.
The ROE and ROA rose from the previous year’s 16.1 percent and 1.9 percent, respectively. AUB president Manuel Gomez attributed “this vastly improved performance” to the bank’s “robust loan growth, more profitable net interest margin (NIM), continuously improving credit quality, and higher operating efficiency.” Amid the environment of rising interest rates, AUB saw its NIM widen by 17 percent to P15 billion in 2022.
Credit quality, as measured by net non-performing loans (NPL), stood at 0.58 percent, well below the industry’s 1.60 percent. This led to reduced loan loss provisions of P1.2 billion, 27 percent lower than in 2022.