State-owned Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) continued to boost its financial support for strategic growth initiatives in the second quarter of the year, with P364.4-billion in loans to borrowers reflecting a notable 15.6% increase from the P315.13-billion recorded during the same period last year, a top official said.
DBP President and Chief Executive Officer Emmanuel G. Herbosa said the provision of sustained development financing to business and industry remains crucial as the country gradually recovers from the effects of the current global health crisis.
“As the premiere infrastructure bank of the country, DBP will continue to streamline its lending programs to be more responsive to the funding needs of priority economic sectors, in support of the government’s recovery initiatives given the adverse impact of the pandemic,” Herbosa added.
Herbosa said that bulk of the loans amounting to P165.3-billion went to the infrastructure and logistics sector, followed by loans to social services, P77.1-billion, environment projects, P43.6-billion, and micro, small, and medium enterprises, P29.6-billion.
He attributed the increase in its loan portfolio to aggressive lending activities by its 30 lending units nationwide despite the challenges posed by the pandemic during the second quarter of the year.
“Our Rehabilitation Support Program on Severe Events (DBP RESPONSE) has helped our clients mitigate the impact of the prevailing health emergency with four borrowers benefiting from the P429-million loan approval from January to June this year,” Herbosa said.
Herbosa also reported that the bank’s total deposits grew by more than 37% as of end June this year, to P637.11-billion from the P463.83-billion reported in the same period in 2019 as a result of the marketing and financial inclusion initiatives undertaken by DBP’s expanded branch network of 129 branches and 11 branch-lite units nationwide.
He said this deposit growth typifies the growing public sentiment that DBP is a strong and stable financial institution, manned by dedicated public servants who continued to provide service despite the prevailing health climate.
“During the second quarter of the year, DBP’s total assets also grew by more than 25%, to P835.81-billion from P667.91-billion during the same period last year, bringing us closer to our goal of becoming a one trillion-peso bank by 2022,” Herbosa said.
DBP Executive Vice President for Corporate Services and concurrent DBP Head of Operations Marietta M. Fondevilla said the bank’s net income for the first semester reached P2.9-billion, down by 6.45% from the P3.1-billion from the same period last year, due mainly to higher provisioning for credit losses.
She said gross revenue totaled P16.53-billion, showing a 4% increase from the P15.91-billion that DBP generated in 2019.
“Notwithstanding the various congressional initiatives to strengthen DBP’s financial position, the bank will continue to maximize and re-allocate its resources to fund initiatives with optimal development impact, while ensuring DBP’s viability during these challenging times,” Fondevilla said.