State-owned Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) reported its full-year income for 2019 reached P6.06-billion, reflecting a 5.94% increase from the P5.72-billion it earned in 2018, a top official said.
DBP President and Chief Executive Officer Emmanuel G. Herbosa attributed the increase on the healthy returns in its lending and investment activities with interest income growing 28% to P29.64-billion from P23.22-billion in 2018.
“DBP boosted its lending activities in 2019, in support of the National Government’s goal of increasing investments in the infrastructure sector, so as to further build up the economy and promote inclusive growth especially in areas outside of traditional urban centers,” Herbosa said.
DBP is the eighth largest bank in the country in terms of assets and has been designated as the country’s Infrastructure Bank by the National Government. The bank provides credit support to four strategic sectors of the economy — infrastructure and logistics, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), social services and community development, and the environment.
Herbosa said DBP’s total loan portfolio stood at P414.06-billion, up by 25.88% from the P328.92-billion recorded in 2018, with about 46.2% or P164.8-billion allocated for the infrastructure and logistics sector.
He said total assets rose by 13.83% to reach P762.17-billion compared to the P669.59-billion recorded in the previous year.
Herbosa said DBP broadened funding support for the social services sector such as the construction of hospitals and schools nationwide with a total loan portfolio of P71.2-billion.
“DBP also lent P27.8-billion to the MSME sector including retail loans and loans to participating financial institutions and approved a total of P44.3-billion in financial assistance for environmental projects,” he said.
Herbosa added that total loan approvals for 2019 reached P133.1-billion, or a 177% realization rate of its full-year target of P75-billion.
“We also expanded our suite of responsive credit programs with the Expanded Rice Credit Assistance under the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund, DA-ACPC-DBP BuyANIhan Credit Program, Electric Cooperative Loan Take-out Assistance from PSALM, and the DBP Rehabilitation Support Program on Severe Events, or DBP RESPONSE,” Herbosa said.
DBP, likewise, facilitated the disbursement of P39-million to two projects under the People Survival Fund, and P1.5-billion to about 300,000 marginalized rice farmers via the Rice Farmer Financial Assistance program, he said.
Hike in Deposits
Herbosa said DBP increased its deposit base by a noteworthy 16.9% to P554.63-billion from P474.44-billion in 2018, pushing its net worth or capital base to about P60.29-billion as of the end of 2019.
“Deposits from the public sector continue to comprise bulk of the bank’s total deposits with a total of P408.72-billion,” Herbosa said. “Our increasing number of deposit accounts has also breached the one million mark, and our sights are trained on a more aggressive financial inclusion campaign.”
DBP also expanded its branch network and convenience banking channels in 2019, opening two full-service branches and one branch lite unit located in the underbanked and underserved areas of Tubod in Lanao Del Norte, Abulug in Cagayan, and Alegria in Cebu.
“At present, DBP’s total branch network has increased to 129 branches and 11 branch lite units with the number of ATMs reaching 836 many of which are in unbanked areas of the country,” Herbosa said.
Herbosa vowed to strengthen innovations particularly on IT infrastructure and customer service interface of the 73-year old bank.
“DBP shall build on the gains that have been attained in the past three years as we continue to explore other opportunities to grow the bank,” he said. “We are definitely moving from brick-and-mortar to fintech banking.”
The bank also made a successful debut in the sustainability bond market with the successful issuance of the DBP ASEAN Sustainability Bonds. “This issuance raised P18.13-billion, reflecting an oversubscription of more than three times. The bond issuance aims to refinance eligible green and sustainable projects.”