MANILA - Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. (Metrobank) reported that its consolidated net income for the first 6 months grew 11% to P3.1 billion from P2.8 billion in the same period last year, owing to strong interest income and trading gains.

In a statement, Metrobank said its net interest income jumped 30% to P13.8 billion due to higher net interest margin and despite relatively modest loan growth.

“Interest margins and trading gains contribute strongly to the bottom line even as we provision aggressively and improve our cost income ratio.” said Metrobank President Arthur Ty.

“Our performance for the first half of the year reflects our continued focus on risk management and operational efficiency,” he added.

Meanwhile, non-interest income was buoyed by stable fee-based income, and a robust 72% increase in trading and forex gains to P2.3 billion.

Operating expenses fell by 7% to P12.6 billion as Metrobank continued to rationalize operations for better efficiency. As a result, operating income before provisions stood at P8.5 billion, or 23% higher than last year's P6.9 billion.

As of end-June, the bank's non-performing loans ratio improved to 4.8% on the back of risk-based lending.

While asset quality remained under control, Metrobank set aside P3.2 billion in provisions for the first semester, or P1.2 billion higher than in the first half of 2008.

Metrobank, the country's second-largest lender, has a consolidated network of 725 domestic branches, and 35 foreign branches, subsidiaries and representative offices.