EAST West Banking Corp. saw its net income rise to P6.1 billion last year, up 32 percent from P4.6 billion in 2022 and driven by sustained growth in consumer loans and robust deposit generation.

This translated to a return on equity of 9.5 percent, the Gotianun-led bank said in a statement on Thursday.

"We witnessed significant growth in our major assets, our consumer loan portfolio," bank President Jacqueline Fernandez said.

"We reversed our two years of continuous decline and resumed our quest to be one of the top consumer banks in the country," she added.

Despite having "good momentum" to start the year, EastWest Bank Chief Executive Officer Jerry Ngo said that much work needed to be done to sustain its expansion.

"We need to rise further [and] face the challenges and potential headwinds," he noted.

The consumer lending portfolio, which accounted for 80 percent of the total loans, was said to have lifted the bank's net revenues to P35.7 billion, up 26 percent year on year.

Total deposits, meanwhile, climbed by 8.0 percent to P356.5 billion in 2023, on the back of a 12-percent increase in current account savings account (CASA) deposits, to P292.4 billion.

EastWest Bank said the above-industry growth in CASA was due to its "renewed focus on cash management services, specifically geared toward the MSME (micro, small and medium enterprise) sector."

Net interest margin was sustained at 7.6 percent while noninterest income ballooned by 51 percent to P7.4 billion.

The bank said fees and income grew 26 percent to P4.8 billion, fueled by higher banking transactions due to lending growth.

Trading income, meanwhile, was said to have contributed P993.6 million to noninterest earnings after expanding by more than five times compared to the 2022 value.

The revenue growth, however, was partly offset by operating expenses, which widened by 19 percent year on year to P20.3 billion.

This was propelled by increased business-related expenses and "higher manpower and information technology costs" in line with efforts to "expand capacity and improve efficiency."

Operating efficiency improved, with the cost-to-income ratio settling at P56.9 percent last year from 60.2 percent in 2022.

As of the end of 2023, the bank's total assets stood at P464.2 billion, while total loans and receivables rose 15 percent to P296.6 billion.

Key ratios — capital adequacy was 13.8 percent and common equity tier 1 was 13 percent — finished 2023 above minimum regulatory requirements.

EastWest Bank's share price fell 2 centavos to P9.10 on Thursday.

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