SECURITY Bank Corp. received recognition from Asiamoney’s Annual Best Domestic Bank Awards and was named “2013 Best Domestic Bank in the Philippines”.
As in the past, Security Bank Corporation (SBC) has a penchant for besting the larger banking institutions in the country because it has stuck to its strengths and kept its fundamentals in check.
Security Bank is following its own growth plan by building a bigger deposit base, which started in 2011 when the acquisition of Premiere Development Bank boosted its branch network to 208 by year-end of 2012, and growing its commercial loans business to take advantage of the booming economy.
Following their criteria, there is no doubt SBC is deserving, as it posted stellar and “better-than-industry” numbers in 2012. With a net income of P7.5 billion, up 12 percent from the previous year, customer loans grew 30 percent to P119.6 billion and its cost-to-income ratio was 43 percent. The highlight is its Return-on-Equity (RoE) with a whopping 22 percent.
“All of Security Bank’s key financial indicators are better than the industry; it has a high RoE, a good cost-to-income ratio of around 50 percent and a strong capital base,” says Jody Santiago, head of equity research for the Philippines at the Union Bank of Switzerland. It also had a capital adequacy ratio of 16.3 percent as of the end of 2012. (PR)