Thrift banks continue to gain strength

Thrift banks continue to gain strength

THRIFT BANKS gained an even firmer financial footing last year, as resources, deposits and loans surged while the number of branches increased, a Chamber of Thrift Banks (CTB) official said.

Their non-performing ratio (NPL) -- the proportion of soured loans to total loans -- remained elevated, however.

“The thrift banking industry remained strong last year, indicated by the increase in our lending activity, deposit generation, total assets and branch networks,” CTB and HSBC Savings Bank (Philippines), Inc.

President Patrick D. Cheng told a press briefing yesterday.

CTB represents the country’s thrift banks. It has 55 members.

As of end-November, thrift banks’ assets grew by 7.68% to P577.81 billion.

Deposits rose by 7.06% to P464.88 billion as of November. Thrift banks currently serve more than 3.9 million deposit accounts.

“The sustained growth in deposits mirrors the public’s increased confidence in the system as well as the banks’ more aggressive marketing efforts,” Mr. Cheng said.

The industry’s lending activity also remained active last year as it climbed by 7.81% to P336.15 as of end-December.

“The [increase showed] a sustained core lending activity... to avowed niches of operation which are the housing and consumers segment amid tight conditions in global financial markets,” Mr. Cheng said.

As of end-2010, while the number of thrift bank head offices stood at 73, unchanged from a year ago, the number of branches increased to 1,346 from 1,260 in 2009, bringing the total number of thrift bank offices to 1,419 from 1,333 a year ago.

The industry’s NPL ratio as of end-November, meanwhile, stood at 8.3%, up from 7.9% from the previous year.

Real and other properties owned or acquired (ROPA) grew by 4.7% to P26.92 billion a year ago.

For this year, Mr. Cheng said the CTB will continue to focus on micro, small and medium enterprises.

“As people feel good about the state of the economy, they want to spend their money wisely and they want to engage in putting up businesses. CTB wants to seize this opportunity by continuing to generate deposits, creating more opportunities for lending, implementing more aggressive marketing programs, and increasing the public’s confidence in thrift banks,” Mr. Cheng said. -- Ann Rozainne R. Gregorio

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