Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co., commonly known as Metrobank, announced that it made PHP 24.9 billion in net income during the first six months of 2026. According to the bank’s disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on July 31, 2026, this happened even though the banking industry faced difficult challenges during this period.
What Does This Mean in Simple Terms?
Think of a bank like a big money store. Metrobank is one of the biggest “money stores” in the Philippines. When they say they made PHP 24.9 billion in net income, it means that’s the profit they kept after paying all their bills and expenses – kind of like when you save money from your allowance after buying what you need.
How Did Metrobank Make Money?
Metrobank President Fabian Dee explained that their results show the strength of their main businesses and the trust their customers have in them. The bank made money in several ways:
Lending Money (Loans)
The bank’s loans grew by 12.4% compared to last year. When banks lend money to people or businesses, they charge interest – that’s how they earn. Metrobank earned PHP 67.7 billion from net interest income, which jumped 12.8% higher than before.
Two types of loans did well:
- Corporate and commercial loans grew by 12.8% as businesses needed money for investments and daily operations
- Consumer loans (like credit cards and home loans) increased by 11.1%
Customer Deposits
People and businesses stored PHP 2.6 trillion in Metrobank, which is 10.4% more than the previous year. The bank particularly values what they call CASA (Current and Savings Accounts) because these are “low-cost” deposits. CASA grew by 6.4% and made up 60.5% of all deposits – this is good because the bank doesn’t have to pay high interest on these accounts.
Fees and Services
The bank also earned PHP 10.0 billion from fees and trust services, an increase of 9.3%. This is like when you pay a small fee to use certain banking services.
What Did the Bank Spend Money On?
Metrobank spent PHP 42.4 billion on operating costs, which went up 10.1%. Most of this money went to:
- Taxes based on the number of transactions
- Technology upgrades to improve digital banking services
The cost-to-income ratio was 52.4%, which means for every 100 pesos the bank earned, it spent about 52 pesos to run the business.
Being Careful About Bad Loans
Sometimes people or businesses can’t pay back their loans – these are called non-performing loans (NPL). Metrobank’s NPL ratio is only 1.8%, which is much better than the industry average of 3.4%. This means Metrobank is doing a good job choosing who to lend money to.
To be extra safe, the bank increased its provisions (money set aside for potential losses) by 26.8%. This gives them an NPL cover of 133.3% – imagine having a safety net that’s bigger than the problem it’s meant to catch. Only 0.3% of their loans needed to be restructured, compared to 2.0% for other banks.
How Big Is Metrobank?
Metrobank’s total assets grew by 12.7% to PHP 3.9 trillion, making it the second largest among private universal banks in the Philippines. The bank’s equity (the value owned by shareholders) increased by 4.9% to PHP 409.7 billion.
Is Metrobank Financially Strong?
The bank remains well above the minimum requirements set by regulators:
- Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR): 14.9% – this shows the bank has enough money to absorb losses if something goes wrong
- Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio: 14.2% – this measures the strongest type of capital the bank has
- Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR): 150.1% – this means the bank has plenty of cash available for emergencies
- Loan to deposit ratio: 81.1% – this shows the bank still has room to lend more money
About Metrobank
Metrobank is the country’s second largest private universal bank with 970 branches across the Philippines, more than 2,100 ATMs, and 27 foreign offices. The bank has investment-grade ratings of Baa2 from Moody’s and BBB- from Fitch Ratings, which means international rating agencies consider it a safe and reliable bank.
Source Note:This article is based on the company’s official press release and disclosures filed with the Philippine Stock Exchange’s Electronic Disclosure Generation Technology (PSE EDGE) system. For the complete and official version of the announcement, readers may visit the PSE EDGE website and search for the company’s filing directly.
