Bank of Commerce, known by its ticker symbol BNCOM on the Philippine Stock Exchange, announced impressive financial results for the year ending December 31, 2025. According to a disclosure filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 1, 2026, the bank has been breaking its own records for three consecutive years since it went public in 2022.

What Does This Mean in Simple Terms?

Think of Bank of Commerce (BankCom) like a piggy bank that helps people and businesses save and borrow money. This “piggy bank” just announced it earned ₱3.54 billion in profit for 2025 – that’s the money left over after paying all expenses, similar to when you earn allowance and spend some but save the rest.

This profit is 17% more than what they made in 2024 (which was ₱3.02 billion), and almost double what they earned in 2022 (₱1.80 billion) when they first started selling their shares to the public through an Initial Public Offering or IPO.

Understanding BankCom’s Owner

Bank of Commerce is owned by San Miguel Corporation (SMC), one of the Philippines’ largest and most well-known companies. SMC has owned BankCom since 2008. This connection gives BankCom access to a large network of businesses and customers.

How Well Is the Bank Really Doing?

To understand if a bank is healthy, experts look at special measurements. Here are BankCom’s key scores:

Return on Equity (ROE)

This measures how well the bank uses the money from its owners to make profit. BankCom’s ROE reached 10.14% in 2025 – the highest in 16 years! This is better than the 9.44% in 2024 and much better than the 7.01% when they first went public in 2022.

Return on Assets (ROA)

This shows how efficiently the bank uses everything it owns to generate profit. BankCom scored 1.28% in 2025, up from 1.22% in 2024 and 0.86% in 2022.

Net Interest Margin (NIM)

This is like the profit margin when you buy candy for ₱5 and sell it for ₱10. For banks, it’s the difference between what they earn from loans and what they pay for deposits. BankCom’s NIM was 4.35% – the highest since 2009 and much better than the 3.73% in their IPO year.

Cost to Income Ratio

This tells us how much the bank spends to earn money. Lower is better. BankCom spent 59% to earn income in 2025, which improved from 62% in 2024 and 68% in 2022. This means they’re becoming more efficient.

Special Dividend: A First for BankCom

On July 15, 2025, BankCom did something special – they gave shareholders (people who own shares of the bank) extra money called a “special dividend” for the very first time. Each share received ₱0.4500 total: ₱0.2000 as special dividends and ₱0.2500 as regular dividends. This was 79% more than what they paid in 2024 (₱0.2512 per share).

Think of dividends like getting a bonus for holding onto your shares – the company shares some of its profits with you.

Book Value: What Each Share Is Worth

The book value per share tells you what each share would be worth if the bank sold everything and paid all its debts. In 2025, this value was ₱22.22 per share, up 12% from ₱19.84 in 2024, and 31% higher than the ₱16.96 when they went public in 2022.

Where Did the Money Come From?

Net Interest Income

BankCom earned ₱10.78 billion from the difference between what they charged for loans and what they paid for deposits. This was 18% higher than the ₱9.11 billion in 2024.

Other Income

The bank also made ₱1.83 billion from other activities like trading and foreign exchange (buying and selling different currencies). This increased by 11% from ₱1.65 billion in 2024.

How Did the Bank Spend Its Money?

BankCom spent ₱7.42 billion on operating expenses in 2025, an 11% increase from ₱6.67 billion in 2024. The main spending areas were:

• Employee salaries: ₱3.04 billion (up 15% due to hiring more people and retention programs)
• Technology and equipment depreciation: ₱672.58 million (up 8%)
• IT subscriptions: ₱229.41 million (more than double from ₱106.36 million in 2024)
• Taxes and licenses: ₱1.12 billion (up 3%)

The bank also set aside ₱382.20 million as a safety cushion for potential loan problems, showing they’re being careful with risk management.

The Bank’s Assets and What They Own

As of end-2025, BankCom’s total assets (everything they own) grew to ₱286.85 billion, an 8% increase from the previous year.

Loans and Receivables

The biggest part – ₱162.82 billion or 57% of total assets – came from loans given to customers. This grew 19% from last year. The loan-to-deposit ratio stood at 75%, meaning for every ₱100 in deposits, the bank lent out ₱75.

Good news: Only 1.33% of total loans were “non-performing” (meaning borrowers weren’t paying on time), and when accounting for safety reserves, this dropped to just 0.62%.

Investments

BankCom also invested in various financial securities totaling ₱81.56 billion across different investment categories, showing significant growth as the bank positioned itself for potential interest rate changes.

Deposits

Customer deposits grew 5% to ₱223.31 billion. Of this, ₱198.49 billion came from current accounts and savings accounts (CASA), while ₱24.83 billion were time deposits.

Bonds Payable

The bank borrowed money by issuing bonds worth ₱17.88 billion, more than double the ₱6.53 billion in 2024. In February 2025, they successfully issued ₱18 billion in two-part bonds: ₱10 billion at 6.1942% interest (maturing in 2027) and ₱8 billion at 6.3494% interest (maturing in 2030).

Capital Strength

BankCom’s capital base reached ₱36.58 billion, a 10% growth despite paying out 79% more in dividends. The bank’s Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) was 16.48%, well above the required minimum of 10%. This means the bank has plenty of financial cushion to handle problems.

Expansion and Growth

In 2025, BankCom opened two new Branch Lite Units (BLUs) – smaller, more efficient branches. One opened at Caticlan airport and another at NAIA Terminal 3, making banking more accessible to travelers.

As of December 31, 2025, BankCom operates 142 branches nationwide (including 2 branch lite units) and has 278 ATMs and cash kiosks.

Awards and Recognition

In 2025, BankCom received several awards:

• Back-to-back wins for “Deal of the Year (Large Cap)” and “Best Project Finance Deal (Large Cap)” from Investment House Association of the Philippines (IHAP) Awards in October 2025
• First-ever 1 Golden Arrow award from the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD) in October 2025

About Bank of Commerce

Bank of Commerce has been around since 1963 when it started as the Overseas Bank of Manila in Binondo, Manila. It became part of the San Miguel Corporation family in 2008 and went public in 2022. The bank is licensed to use the trademark short name “BankCom” granted by the Intellectual Property Office in 2020.

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.