Vol. XXI, No. 156 [ Business World Online ]
Monday, March 10, 2008 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES
BANKS TOOK advantage of the property sizzle as their exposure to the real estate sector continued to widen last year.
Their auto loans business also rose steadily, according to data released on Friday by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
Banks’ real estate exposure in form of loans and investments in equities rose to P225.8 billion as of end-December, up P5.8 billion from the prior quarter and the P220 billion in 2006.
The BSP said the additional exposure for the quarter largely came from real estate loans (RELs) which amounted to P5.1 billion. Investments in equities of real estate companies, it said, chalked a P700-million contribution in the quarterly increment.
The REL tally for the year was P197.69 billion.
The industry’s total loan portfolio, exclusive of interbank loans, rose by 11.7% to P1.904 trillion.
The ratio of RELs to the total loan portfolio slid to 10.4% from the previous quarter’s 11.3% and the 11.5% in 2006.
Almost all, or 97.2%, of total RELs was held by banks proper, while the remaining 2.8% was accounted for by the banks’ trust departments.
RELs extended for the construction and development of properties for commercial purposes, including infrastructure projects, accounted for 79.9% of the total, or P158.0 billion.
The remaining 20.1% or P39.7 billion was granted for the acquisition of residential units by individual homeowners or borrowers.
The central bank noted that past due RELs increased to P15.4 billion from the previous quarter’s P15.0 billion, matching the REL growth rate.
Consequently, the ratio of past due RELs to total RELs hardly changed from previous quarter’s 7.8%, but was better than 2006’s 10.5%.
The proportion of past due RELs to the total loan portfolio eased to 0.8% from the previous quarter’s 0.9%, as well as 2006’s 1.2%.
Investments in commercial papers issued by and in equities of real estate firms reached P28.1 billion, higher than the previous quarter’s P27.4 billion and 2006’s P21.1 billion.
The ratio of combined RELs and investments to the real estate industry to the total loan portfolio plus total debt and equity investments stood at 6.1%. This was slightly lower than the previous quarter’s 6.2% and 2006’s 6.3%.
Auto loans
Meanwhile, banks’ auto loans for the year totalled P86.2 billion, up from the P83 billion as of the third quarter and a 19.4% rise from the P72.2 billion recorded in 2006.
The ratio of auto loans to the total loan portfolio went down to 4% from 4.3% in the earlier quarter but was higher than 2006’s 3.7%.
Thrift banks including subsidiaries of universal and commercial banks continued to hold the biggest block of the total auto loans with 62.6% share.
Universal and commercial banks accounted for the remaining 37.4%.
The past due auto loans to total auto loans ratio was maintained at 5.1% from the previous quarter as the 3.3% climb in past due loans to P4.4 billion nearly matched the auto loan growth rate.
The ratio of past due auto loans to the total loan portfolio was maintained at 0.2% in the three comparative periods, while the ratio of past due auto loans to NPLs rose to 3.3% from 2.9% in the previous quarter and 2.3% in 2006. — GSDP
