AUB books record income in 2025

ASIA UNITED BANK Corp.’s (AUB) net income climbed by 12% year on year to a record high in 2025, driven by strong growth in its commercial loans.

The bank’s unaudited consolidated net income reached P12.7 billion last year, rising from P11.4 billion in 2024, it said in a disclosure to the stock exchange on Monday.

AUB’s full-year financial performance translated to a return on equity of 20% and a return on assets of 3.1%.

“A more robust commercial lending portfolio combined with improved operational efficiency enabled AUB and its subsidiaries to post a record double-digit growth in profitability in 2025,” it said.

AUB’s financial statement was unavailable as of press time.

Net interest income rose by 10% to P18.4 billion in 2025, backed by the 13% growth in its loan portfolio to P276 billion.

“The bank saw a surge in loan availments as business confidence returned to pre-pandemic levels in 2025,” it said.

Despite the increase, AUB said its credit costs were “well-contained,” as its nonperforming loan (NPL) ratio was at just 0.38% and its NPL coverage ratio was at 115%.

“This reflects the bank’s disciplined underwriting and high-quality asset base, which further bolstered its strong income performance. This also ensures the bank is fully prepared to absorb potential volatility, even as provisioning requirements normalize due to improved borrower behavior.”

Net interest margin stood at 4.8%, the bank added.

With this, its total operating income increased by 9% year on year to P23.3 billion.

Other income went up by 8% to P4.8 billion, supported by higher fee-based income from its payment acceptance solution AUB PayMate, its e-wallet HelloMoney, and its remittance, trust, and credit cards businesses.

Meanwhile, on the funding side, total deposits with the bank rose by 12% year on year to P349 billion at end-2025.

“Low-cost current account/savings account (CASA) deposits grew 25% to P279 billion, cushioning the bank from higher funding costs and enabling it to keep its net interest margin steady at 4.8%. CASA deposits comprised 71% of AUB’s total deposits…,” it added.

AUB’s assets expanded by 13% year on year at P435 billion at end-2025.

Its common equity Tier 1 ratio was at 18.4% last year, while its total capital adequacy ratio stood at 19.1%.

“Even as we continue to post record growth, we remain cautiously optimistic as the entire banking industry faces more intense competition from fintechs, AI (artificial intelligence) adoption, and more complex cyberthreats. In addition, there are still mounting cost pressures and continuing geopolitical instability,” AUB President Manuel A. Gomez said in a statement.

“However, growth opportunities abound for AUB, particularly in digital partnerships. It is through this that we can stay ahead of the curve by revolutionizing cross-border digital payment solutions through our HelloMoney, among others,” he said.

AUB shares gained 20 centavos or 0.46% to close at P43.90 each on Monday. — Aaron Michael C. Sy