BPI net income drops 5% amid pandemic provisions

Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) reported a 5% decrease in net income for the first quarter of 2020, amounting to ₱6.39 billion.

This decrease was primarily due to increased provisions for potential loan losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, with ₱4.23 billion set aside, more than double the ₱1.80 billion allocated in Q1 2019.

Despite the dip in net income, BPI's total revenues saw a 10.9% increase to ₱25.26 billion in the first quarter of 2020, driven by growth in net interest income and non-interest income.

Total loans expanded by 7.3% year-on-year to ₱1.45 trillion, and total deposits increased by 4.3% to ₱1.68 trillion.

The bank's NPL coverage ratio improved to 109.02% as of March 2020, up from 92.55% in March 2019, while the NPL ratio stood at 1.82%.

BPI executives project better business results in the second quarter, expecting earnings to hold up reasonably well despite economic slowdowns.

The bank has observed a single-digit decline in remittance inflows passing through their system, forecasting a low double-digit drop by mid-year.