Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. (Metrobank) reported record net earnings of PHP 37.3 billion in the first nine months of the year, driven by solid loan growth, improving margin trend, healthy trading income alongside well managed cost growth. Pre-provision operating profit in 9M 2025 grew 12.1% year-on-year to PHP 59.2 billion.

“Our prudent approach in expanding our core businesses continued to support our performance in the first nine months. We’re confident that the Philippines’ long-term growth story remains strong,” said Metrobank President Fabian S. Dee.

“We continue to be committed in helping our clients seize opportunities for growth as we navigate together any challenges and uncertainties on our journey ahead.” he added.

The Bank’s net interest income increased by 7.1% to PHP 91.8 billion in the first nine months of the year, owing to broad-based gains across business segments and sustained quarterly margin improvement.

Gross loans expanded by 10.8% year-on-year to PHP 1.9 trillion, with consumer loans rising by 15.8%. Institutional loans likewise rose by 9.5%. Meanwhile, total deposits amounted to PHP 2.5 trillion, up 7.6% year-on-year, of which PHP 1.5 trillion are low-cost current and savings accounts (CASA). Loan to deposit ratio of 76.6% reflects ample capacity to support client funding needs.

Non-interest income grew 5.3% to PHP 25.4 billion during the first nine months, driven by steady growth in service fees and trust income. Trading and foreign exchange gains surged by 18% to PHP 6.6 billion, driven by continued growth in customer flows and effective management of the investment securities portfolio.

Operating cost growth was well contained, rising by just 1.7% year-on-year. Consequently, cost to income ratio fell to 49.8% from 52.2% in 9M 2024.

Asset quality continued to fare better than industry, with non-performing loans’ (NPL) ratio coming in at 1.7%, far lower than the industry’s reported 3.6% NPL ratio as of August 2025. Year to date provisions stood at PHP 8.7 billion, maintaining high NPL cover of 147.4%, a hefty buffer against rising uncertainties.

Alongside this, the Bank remains well-capitalized, with Capital Adequacy Ratio at 17.0% and Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio at 16.3%, well above the minimum regulatory requirements. As such, Asian Banker named Metrobank as the Strongest Bank in the Philippines for the fifth straight year and was given the Best Managed Bank title for 2025.

The Bank’s total consolidated assets increased by 8.9% to PHP 3.6 trillion, solidifying its position as the second largest private universal bank in the country. Total equity climbed by 7.2% to PHP 407.6 billion.