PNB sees 2005 profit rising 70% to P600M
Posted: 10:21 AM | May 24, 2005
XFN-Asia
PHILIPPINE National Bank (PNB), the country's fifth largest bank in terms of assets, expects its net profit to rise to 600 million pesos this year from 353.3 million in 2004 on the back of its strong overseas remittance business and the sale of non-performing assets, PNB president Omar Byron Mier said.
The bank also expects to reduce its non-performing loans (NPLs) to 24.3 billion pesos by year-end from 37.7 billion at end-2004.
"We feel confident that we will be able to hit 600 million pesos (in net profit) this year. We annualized our first quarter net profit of 151 million pesos, (and) that is our running rate," Mier told reporters after the bank's annual general meeting.
"The drivers of growth would be the remittance business and the resolution of our NPL accounts. We see our NPL ratio at less than 30 percent by year-end."
Its NPLs fell to 30.5 billion pesos as of end-March.
The majority shareholders of PNB are the government and businessman Lucio Tan.



