2019 January - BDO Unibank Inc. is the Philippines’ strongest bank for 2018, according to The Asian Banker’s Strongest Banks By Balance Sheet list.

The Asian Banker’s Strongest Banks By Balance Sheet is an annual assessment of the financial and business performance of the banking industry in the Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa region. The banks are rated on a scale of 0-5 in six areas, namely: the ability to scale, balance sheet growth, risk profile, profitability, asset quality, and liquidity.

As of end third quarter of 2018, BDO delivered an 18% hike in earnings of P8.4 billion compared to the same quarter the year before. This increase is based on solid expansion from its core lending and deposit-taking, life insurance, and fee-based businesses.

Moreover, the largest bank’s Q3 2018 net result also represents a 15% rise quarter-on-quarter from the P7.3 billion profit recorded in Q2 2018. This brings BDO’s income for the first nine months of 2018 to P21.5 billion, higher by 6% from year ago levels.

Its 2018 full-year earnings guidance of P31 billion remains within reach given its strong fourth quarter performance, combined with encouraging results from its strategic initiatives expanding across underserved segments and growth areas.

In a statement, The Asian Banker said that “the top 20 strongest banks in the Asia Pacific region included 10 Hong Kong banks, four Chinese banks, two Singapore banks, and one each from Australia, Brunei, Japan, Malaysia, and New Zealand. Banks in Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia achieved the highest weighted average strength score, at 4.10, 3.51 and 3.34 out of 5, respectively, except for Brunei, which has only one bank on the list.”

This recognition follows BDO's Mortgage Product of the Year Award at the recently held The Asian Banker Philippines Country Awards 2018. The award recognized the Bank's extensive network as the main driver of its consumer loans business.

BDO has a network of more than 1,000 branches nationwide, the widest in the country. Through this network, the Bank is able to tap opportunities in high-growth areas as well as promote financial inclusion.