PNB’s net income up 20% to $438.6m in 2025 on more loans and lower costs

It's bad loans ratio declined to 4.7% whilst operating expenses grew slower.

Philippine National Bank (PNB) saw its net income rise 20% year-on-year (YoY) to over $438.59m (PHP25.3b) in 2025 on more loans and an improved asset quality.

The bank’s loan portfolio grew by 15% YoY, with consumer loans rising 27% whilst corporate and commercial loans grew 13%, according to PNB’s filing at the Philippine Stock Exchange.

PNB attributed the growth to healthy asset yields and a low funding cost base, translating to a net interest margin (NIM) of 4.51%.

Its non-performing loan (NPL) ratio declined to 4.7%, from 5.7% in 2024.

“This reflects the effectiveness of the Bank’s NPL stabilization strategy which includes tighter portfolio reviews, the use of dynamic risk-scoring and monitoring models,” PNB stated in its bourse filing in February 2026.

Fee-generating businesses supported PNB’s 2025 performance, said Francis Albalate, chief financial officer of the bank.

“Fee-generating businesses including deposits, loans, credit cards, trust operations, and bancassurance, and other non-interest earnings provided solid support to the bank’s performance for 2025, which is a reflection of the bank’s strengthened vigor towards expanding its revenue capabilities,” Albalate said in a press release.

Operating expenses grew at a slower pace, and PNB improved its cost-efficiency ratio to 48.2% in 2025 from 49.6% in 2024.

PNB CEO Edwin Bautista said that it made significant investments related to digitalisation over the past year, including the upskilling of over 1,000 employees with competencies in digital-age banking, ethical AI utilisation, data protection, and agile methodologies.

“For digital banking, our digital app user base increased by 26%,” Bautista said in a press release.

“,After completing the modernization of our core banking system and ATM switch, we significantly enhanced our customer acquisition efforts and expanded our ability to capitalize on market opportunities,” he added.

(US$1 = PHP57.68)