The Bank’s recurring income grew 21% vs. the same period last year as net interest income increased by 12% to Php8.1 billion and fee-based income more than doubled to Php1.4 billion. Net Income, however, was lower by 45% due to extraordinary trading gains recorded in 1Q2021.
The year-on-year (YoY) growth in recurring income was attributable to the following: 1) Net interest margin improved by 6bps to 4.6% brought about by higher yields in earning assets, coupled by lower cost of funds from the expansion of our CASA deposits; and 2) Fee-based income came from the growth of InstaPay charges and interchange fees. Higher foreign exchange income (up 53% YoY to Php369.5 million) also boosted our topline revenues.