Landbank Earned ₱20.9-B In H1

State-owned Land Bank of the Philippines (Landbank) reported a net income of P20.9 billion in the first six months of the year, a modest 2.7 percent increase from P20.3 billion same period in 2022.

Photo Insert: Landbank's end-June earnings have surpassed its internal target by 19 percent or by P3 billion for the first semester period.

Landbank, the second biggest bank in the country, said recently that its end-June earnings have surpassed its internal target by 19 percent or by P3 billion for the first semester period. It is also almost 60% of the bank’s 2023 income target of P35 billion.

Landbank President and CEO Lynette V. Ortiz said the bank is “very much on track in meeting our financial targets for the year, as income from loans and investments continue to expand.”

She added that Landbank, one of the funders of the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF), is in a “prime position to sustain our intensified support to the agriculture sector and other key industries.”

The bank seeded MIF with a P50 billion capital.

As of end-June, the bank has maintained a return on equity rate of 13.82%. Meanwhile, the state-controlled bank said its six-month earnings were supported by the 49.8% growth in its loan portfolio, and by the 43.5% increase in its investments.

Total assets as of end-June reached P3 trillion, which was 7.9% higher than P2.8 trillion in the same period in 2022. The increase in assets was boosted by its deposits of P2.7 trillion, up by 9.2 % year-on-year. Its capital also grew by 14.4% to P236.3 billion during the period.

Credit watchdog Fitch Ratings recently upgraded the bank’s outlook to “stable” as a thumbs up for Landbank’s financial strength. Fitch, in a May 30 report, affirmed the Landbank’s Long-Term Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) at “BBB” and Government Support Rating (GSR) at “bbb”.

It based the upgrade on Landbank’s “strategic and growing policy roles, 100% state ownership as well as its systemic importance as the largest state-owned bank in the country, with a market share of about 14% of system assets.”

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