Bank of Commerce, also known as BankCom (traded on the Philippine Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol BNCOM), reported strong financial results for the first three months of 2026, according to a press release filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 13, 2025.

What Is Bank of Commerce?

Bank of Commerce is a bank in the Philippines that has been part of the San Miguel Corporation (SMC) family since 2008. Think of it like a big piggy bank where people and companies keep their money safe, borrow money when they need it, and do different money-related transactions. The bank started way back in 1963 in Binondo, Manila, and now has 142 branches and 284 ATM machines all over the country.

The Big News: More Profit in Early 2026

BankCom made ₱976.19 million in profit during the first quarter of 2026 (January to March). This is 13% more than what they made during the same time last year, when they earned ₱866.79 million. To put it simply, if they made ₱100 last year, they made ₱113 this year – that’s a nice improvement!

What makes this result even more impressive is that the bank achieved this growth despite challenging times caused by problems in the Middle East that made the financial markets unstable and unpredictable.

How Did They Make More Money?

The bank earned more money mainly from two things:

• Net Interest Income: This is like when you lend money to a friend and they pay you back with a little extra as a “thank you.” The bank lends money to people and businesses, and they pay back more than they borrowed. This income reached ₱2.98 billion, which is 20% higher than the ₱2.49 billion they made from this last year.
• Foreign Exchange Gains: When people exchange Philippine pesos for dollars or other currencies (or the other way around), the bank earns fees from helping them do these transactions.

Understanding the Bank’s Performance Numbers

The press release mentioned some important measurements that show how well the bank is doing:

• Return on Equity (ROE) of 10.74%: This tells us how well the bank uses the money that its owners (shareholders) have invested. A higher number is better.
• Return on Assets (ROA) of 1.32%: This shows how good the bank is at using everything it owns to make profit.
• Net Interest Margin (NIM) of 4.41%: This improved from 4.35% at the end of 2025, showing the bank is earning more from lending money compared to what it pays to people who deposit money.

Overall Financial Picture

Here are some other important numbers from the first quarter of 2026 compared to the same period in 2025:

• Gross revenue (total money coming in) rose to ₱3.29 billion, up 10% from ₱2.99 billion
• Total assets (everything the bank owns) reached ₱306.11 billion, which is 7% more than the ₱286.85 billion in 2025
• Total deposits (money people keep in the bank) grew by 8% to ₱241.88 billion from ₱223.31 billion
• Loans and receivables (money the bank lent out) stood at ₱162.81 billion

Is the Bank Safe and Strong?

According to the report, yes! Here’s why:

• Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) of 16.06%: This is like a safety cushion. Banks need to have at least 10% according to rules, and BankCom has 16.06%, which means they have plenty of safety money set aside.
• Low Bad Loans: The gross non-performing loan ratio improved to 1.21% from 1.33% at the end of 2025. This means only a very small amount of the money they lent out isn’t being paid back – that’s a good sign!
• Net non-performing loan ratio of 0.56%: This improved from 0.62% last year, showing even fewer problems with unpaid loans when accounting for money set aside to cover potential losses.

Expenses and Investments

Running a bank costs money, and BankCom’s operating expenses increased by 11% to ₱1.99 billion from ₱1.79 billion in 2025. This increase came from:

• Hiring more employees and paying them better (compensation increased 15% to ₱818.15 million)
• Opening new branch lite units
• Investing in new technology and software to serve customers better
• Higher transaction volumes as the bank grows

Some Challenges Along the Way

Not everything went perfectly. The bank’s “other income” dropped by 39% to ₱304.51 million, mainly because of trading losses caused by unstable markets due to the Middle East conflict. However, this was partially balanced by gains from selling foreclosed properties (called ROPA sales), which brought in ₱164.88 million, up 14% from last year.

Recent Awards and Recognition

During the first quarter of 2026, BankCom received several awards:

• Won recognition at the 19th Alpha Southeast Asia’s Annual Deal & Solution Awards for helping with major financial transactions
• Named as one of Mandaluyong City’s Top Taxpayers for 2025 (for the third year in a row)
• Recognized as one of the Top 5 Fixed-Income Cash Settlement Banks and Top 5 Corporate Issue Managers/Arrangers at the 2026 Philippine Dealing System Annual Awards Night

About the Company

Bank of Commerce is registered with the SEC under number 24221 and is publicly listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange. As of the report date, the bank has 1,403,013,920 common stocks outstanding. The company is headquartered at San Miguel Properties Centre, No. 7 St. Francis Street, Mandaluyong City.

As of December 31, 2025, BankCom had posted a record net income of ₱3.54 billion for the full year, which was 17% higher than the ₱3.02 billion from the previous year.

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.