Corporate Profile

Business Development

History

Asia United Bank Corporation (AUB) is among the very few banks that was granted a full-branch commercial bank license in 1997 and is operating until this day. In 2013, AUB joined the league of Philippine Banks that have become publicly listed and acquired universal banking status.

AUB was registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on October 3, 1997. Its registered office and principal executive offices are located at Joy-Nostalg Center, 17 ADB Avenue, Ortigas Center, Pasig City, Philippines.

AUB was granted the authority to operate as a commercial bank under the Monetary Board (MB) Resolution No. 1149 dated September 3, 1997 and commenced operations on October 31, 1997. In 2012, it obtained approval from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to upgrade its license into expanded commercial banking status. In 2013, the Bank was granted an authority to operate as a universal bank under MB Resolution No. 356 dated February 28, 2013. The universal banking license authorizes, AUB, in addition to its general powers as a commercial bank, to exercise the following: (1) Powers of an investment house, including securities underwriting and trading, loan syndication, financial advisory, private placement of debt and equity securities, project finance and direct equity investment, and (2) Power to invest in allied and non-allied enterprises, subject to regulatory caps on the amount of investment relative to the Bank’s capital and ownership percentage.

AUB began as a joint venture between a consortium of Filipino Industrialists (namely Jacinto L. Ng, Sr., Luis U. Ang and Jose S. Sandejas) and Taiwanese investment banks (namely China United Trust & Investment Corporation and China Development Industrial Bank). As of December 31, 2013, the Bank is now a publicly listed company with three principal/substantial stockholders: Republic Biscuit Corporation, Kuo Yu Philippines Holdings Corporation, and Lambda Holdings Corporation.

To expand its business and distribution network, AUB has acquired three subsidiaries as of December 31, 2016 as shown in the table below.

Review of the Past Three Years

Over the past three years, AUB has been steadily growing by building a strong and loyal client base through its careful and focused client generation activities and technological innovations for both its deposit-taking and lending businesses.

In 2014, the Philippines managed to demonstrate its resilience in the face of growing global uncertainty. AUB’s consolidated financial performance in 2014 reflected both the bank’s ability to seize emerging opportunities from a growing economy, as well as the skillful execution of its business plans.

2014 saw the fulfillment of AUB’s commitment during its IPO in 2012 to establish a branch network of at least 200. By the end of 2014, the Parent Company had 204 branches and the Group had 219 branches, with 11 branches from RBA after its business combination with the Cooperative Bank of Pampanga was consummated on October 31, 2014.

The Group posted a net income of P1.689 billion in 2014, 14.5% higher than P1.475 billion a year ago. The growth came despite the industry-wide decline in trading gains, which dragged most banks’ bottom lines in 2014.

The Group’s total assets increased by 18.8% from P105.046 billion as of December 31, 2013 to P124.793 billion as of December 31, 2014 primarily driven by a more robust commercial and consumer loan portfolio.

In 2015, the bank reached out to more customers by opening 4 new branches to end with a network of 208 branches for its Parent Bank. Its subsidiary added more branches after obtaining Monetary Board approval for the purchase of assets and assumption of liabilities of the Cooperative Bank of Pampanga. This increased the group’s consolidated network to 230 branches.

The group posted a net income of P1.519 billion as of end-2015, 10.1% lower than the P1.690 billion a year ago. There was a 15.2% rise in net interest income to P4.769 billion from P4.139 billion in 2014. However, other income declined by 35.4% mainly due to the 73.3% drop in trading gains and 79.4% drop in foreign exchange profit, as well as the absence of the high extraordinary income registered in 2014.

The group grew its assets by 23.1% from P124.793 billion as of December 31, 2014 to P153.556 billion as of December 31, 2015 as a result of the bank’s targeted lending activities in the corporate and retail market, and the active efforts of the branches to cross-sell to existing depositors.

The Parent bank had a Tier 2 issuance in November 2015. The Tier 2 Notes is intended to increase and strengthen the bank’s capital base and ensure its continuing compliance with capital adequacy regulations of the BSP.

In 2016, the group rebounded with a 51.8% growth in net income to P2.305 billion from P1.519 billion a year ago. This is due to the 19.1% increase in Net Interest Margin and 37.1% increase in non-interest income mainly from Trading and Securities gain, and Foreign Exchange gain.

Specific to the interest margin, the group’s total interest income rose to P7.268 billion, 18.9% higher versus the 2015 level. This was aided by a 21.5% growth in interest income from commercial loans and consumer loans such as auto, housing and salary loans.

Total assets increased to P165.501 billion as of December 31, 2016, 7.8% higher than the asset level in 2015.

During the year, the Group reached out to more customers by expanding its consolidated distribution network to 239 branches, with the Parent bank ending the year with 216 branches.

AUB’s achievements from 2014 to 2016 can be attributed to its principal competitive strengths:

• Consistent balance sheet growth and profitability driven by an efficient operational structure;
• Expanding nationwide distribution network resulting in consistently expanding deposit base;
• Solid core customer base among SME’s and corporations and a growing retail base;
• Tailored and innovative customer service and touch points supported by an advanced IT system;
• Prudent balance sheet management with strong capitalization and liquidity to support growth; and:
• Highly-experienced management team with proven track record.