BSP net income surges at end-June on higher interest earnings

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) saw its net income surge in the first half amid higher interest earnings, preliminary data showed.

The central bank’s net profit surged by 330.51% to PHP 85.50 billion in the six months ending June from PHP 19.86 billion a year earlier, according to data posted on its website.

Revenues went up by 56.9% year on year to PHP 164.08 billion from PHP 104.58 billion.

Broken down, interest income made up bulk of the BSP’s revenues during the first semester at PHP 119.76 billion, rising by 28.21% year on year from PHP 93.41 billion.

Miscellaneous income, which includes fees, penalties and other operating income, stood at PHP 44.32 billion at end-June, up by 296.78% from PHP 11.17 billion a year earlier.

On the other hand, the BSP’s expenses declined by 8.9% year on year to P106.13 billion in the first half.

Broken down, other expenses, which include net trading losses, fell by 40.02% to PHP 21.82 billion from PHP 36.38 billion. Meanwhile, interest expenses rose by 5.19% year on year to PHP 84.31 billion as of June.

This brought the central bank’s net income before foreign exchange (FX) gains, tax, and capital reserves to PHP 57.95 billion in the first semester, a turnaround from the PHP 11.94-billion loss it posted in the comparable year-ago period.

Its bottom-line was boosted by a PHP 27.56-billion net FX gain from its foreign currency-denominated transactions in the period.

Meanwhile, separate BSP data showed that its assets went up by 8% to PHP 7.874 trillion at end-June from PHP 7.294 trillion a year ago.

International reserves made up bulk of its assets at PHP 6.13 trillion, up from PHP 5.46 trillion a year prior.

On the other hand, the BSP’s liabilities climbed by 7.6% to PHP 7.667 trillion in the first half from PHP 7.126 trillion.

Currency in circulation stood at PHP 2.31 trillion as of June, while deposits with the central bank were at PHP 2.599 trillion, the data showed.

The central bank’s net worth stood at PHP 207.73 billion as of June, up 24.14% from PHP 167.34 billion a year earlier. — AMCS