[vgal0579]

mga boss, please merge this if we already have... have browsed the pages but can't find any... 

anyway, cash dividend update for those who are waiting:

http://www3.pse.com.ph/resource/disclosures/2012/pdf/dc2012-1642_UBP.pdf

Cash Dividend:
Cash - PhP 3.00 per share
Ex-Date: March 8, 2012
Record Date: March 13, 2012
Payment Date: April 11, 2012

 

[vgal0579]

Union Bank of the Philippines (UBP)

Recommendation: Profit-take

REGINA Capital Development Corp. has placed a “profit-take” tag on shares in Union Bank of the Philippines, noting that the stocks’ price is already high and showing signs of tapering off.

“Right now, the stock is currently experiencing a price surge because of speculations that Aboitiz Equity Ventures will be selling its shares in Union Bank. It’s best to profit-take for now. However, once the price of the stock has stabilized, Union Bank is still a good company to invest in,” analyst Claire S. Quiray said.

Shares in UBP closed at P135.00 apiece last Friday, up P20.00 or 17.39% from Thursday’s close of P115.00.

http://www.bworldonline.com/Research/stockpicks.php?id=0900a

 

[vgal0579]

Union Bank posts record profit

MANILA, Philippines—Aboitiz-led Union Bank of the Philippines quadrupled its first-quarter net profit to a record-high P2.84 billion from a year ago on the back of hefty increases in trading gains.

The three-month performance brought the bank’s return on equity to nearly 26 percent, as Union Bank earned as much profit as what was recently reported for the first quarter by the country’s largest bank, Banco de Oro Unibank.

The surge in first-quarter net income to P2.84 billion from only P708.28 million a year ago was fueled by the substantial growth in net trading gains to P2.65 billion from only P187 million a year ago.

“It was a very strong first quarter. It’s another record quarterly earnings and the reason behind that is Union Bank continues to take advantage of the volatility in the marketplace. We were able to pre-position last year as a result of the uncertainties in the European market and to that extent, the results in foreign exchange and securities trading were remarkable,” Union Bank president Victor Valdepenas said in an interview on Saturday.

“But what’s even more remarkable is that in the last several quarters starting last year, our consumer group’s auto and mortgages have been growing at double-digit levels,” he said.

In the first quarter, Union Bank grew its loan book by 19 percent to P115.17 billion.

Net interest income was steady at P1.77 billion from P1.76 billion a year ago.

Declining asset yields remained a challenge, Valdepenas said, which was why net interest earning was flat even if the lending volume had gone up.

“It’s still a borrower’s market. Borrowers are asking for unheard of rates that were never seen in the last 25 years,” Valdepenas said, adding that this was due to excess liquidity in the financial system.

“We will see that (interest earnings) improve, because we have established improved funding base that will pay off in the next few quarters,” he said.

Union Bank ended March with resources of P260 billion, of which P190.33 billion was funded by deposit liabilities. Capital funds stood at P44 billion.

Valdepenas said Union Bank had also put up more loan loss provisions in the first quarter, bringing its non-performing loan cover to more than 100 percent.

On the operating side, Valdepenas said the bank had consolidated its branches to rationalize costs.

On the consumer franchise, he said Union Bank had started to move into new business lines and had decentralized lending program to allow field managers the flexibility to offer on-the-spot credit facility within a certain limit.- D dumlao

[vgal0579]

Union Bank of the Philippines net income surges by 42% in H1

MANILA, Philippines—Aboitiz-led Union Bank of the Philippines grew its first-semester net profit by 42 percent to P4.07 billion year on year as higher earnings from lending were complemented by trading gains.

In an interview, Union Bank president Victor Valdepeñas said the first-semester results translated to a return on equity of about 18 percent, boosted by the increase in both interest and noninterest income.

The bank’s net interest income in the first semester went up by 8.2 percent to P3.67 billion while net trading gains surged by 51 percent to P3.29 billion, based on a regulatory filing.

About 70 percent of the bank’s first-semester bottom line was chalked up during the first quarter while the second quarter contributed 30 percent.

For the second quarter alone, Union Bank’s net profit declined by 43 percent to P1.22 billion year on year as trading gains fell (by 32 percent to P641.3 million) even as net interest income surged (by 16.3 percent to P1.89 billion). This was in line with market expectations of slower treasury gains in the second quarter.

“The second quarter was when emerging market (asset) prices, including bond prices went down significantly. But we did anticipate this and that’s why we took profits in the first quarter,” Valdepeñas said.

Union Bank expanded its loan book by 14 percent year on year in the first semester to end-June with net loans and receivables of P87.5 billion, boosted by the robust expansion in consumer and middle-market lending.

Valdepeñas noted that consumer lending had risen on the back of over 30 percent expansion in auto and mortgage lending while the middle-market segment likewise expanded by close to 30 percent.

“But our corporate (lending book) has been flattish. There’s a shift (in corporates’ funding preference) from promissory notes to preferred shares. They are moving in that direction, taking advantage of the low-cost environment to issue long-term liabilities and therefore from that standpoint, there’s a shift from loan book to private securities,” Valdepeñas said.

Apart from growing its loan book, Union Bank also expanded other earning assets, growing by 43 percent year on year its available-for-sale trading and investment securities to P89.68 billion as of end-June.- D Dumlao