UNION Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) has appointed Ana Maria Aboitiz-Delgado as its new president and chief executive officer, effective January 1 next year, to replace current president and CEO Edwin Bautista who will be retiring.

Bautista, who was asked to extend his term, managed to complete major milestones including the acquisition and migration of the Citibank Philippines retail business to UnionBank platforms, which was completed in March.

Aboitiz-Delgado joined the bank in 2003 as a management trainee and rose to lead business development for small and micro enterprise banking and retail consumer finance, including credit cards and loans.

In July last year, her role was expanded to leading the institutional banking business, alongside being the head of customer experience and digital channels and as director and chairman of CitySavings Bank.

"We are looking forward to taking UnionBank to greater heights with Ana at the helm," Unionbank Chairman Erramon Aboitiz said.

Bautista will pass on the seat to Aboitiz-Delgado to the bank with over 15 million customers.

"Delgado's expertise around customer experience design and digital innovations will no doubt build on the strong foundation that Bautista leaves the role with," UnionBank said.

He will remain as part of the board of directors to help ensure a smooth leadership transition.

UnionBank's shares grew 5 centavos on Friday to P34.35 apiece.