Philippine Rating Services Corporation (Philratings)
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PRESS RELEASE RATING NEWS December 16, 2019 The Pioneer Domestic Credit Rating Agency EastWest Bank Gets High Credit Rating East West Banking Corporation (EastWest Bank), the banking arm of the Filinvest Group, was assigned an issuer credit rating of PRS Aa plus (corp.) by Philippine Rating Services Corporation (PhilRatings). The rating has a Stable Outlook. An Issuer Credit Rating is a measure of the general creditworthiness of a company over a one year period. A company rated PRS Aa (corp.) differs from the highest rated corporates only to a small degree, and has a strong capacity to meet its financial commitments relative to that of other Philippine corporates. The plus further qualifies the assigned rating within the “Aa” rating level. A Stable Outlook, on the other hand, indicates that the rating is likely to be maintained or to remain unchanged in the next 12 months. The issuer credit rating takes into consideration EastWest Bank’s clearly-defined and well- executed growth strategy; its ability to compete in its chosen market; the favorable outlook for domestic consumer credit despite economic headwinds in 2018; and the bank’s strong shareholders and highly- experienced management. The issuer credit rating assigned by PhilRatings is based on available information and projections at the time that the rating review was performed. PhilRatings shall continuously monitor developments relating to EastWest Bank, and may change the rating at any time, should circumstances warrant a change. As a domestic universal bank (unibank), EastWest Bank provides a wide range of financial services to consumer and corporate clients. These services include deposit-taking, loan and trade finance, treasury, trust services, credit cards, cash management, custodial services, insurance services and leasing and finance. EastWest Bank’s long term growth plan is divided into three phases: the “laying the foundation” phase (2007 to 2011), “expansion to significance” phase (2012 to 2016), and “realizing full potential” phase (beginning 2017). Two years into its “realizing full potential” phase, EastWest Bank has achieved several milestones in line with its increasing focus in digitalizing its business processes, beefing up its sales and marketing initiatives, intensifying relationship building with clients and strengthening its organizational development efforts. With 73% of its portfolio lent to consumers as of end-September 2019, EastWest Bank sees itself as the most consumer-centric bank in the country. As most banks’ foray into consumer lending brings increasing competition, the bank leverages on its own understanding of the consumer lending market as its main competitive strategy. During the period January to September 2019, the bank recorded year-on- year growth across segments: auto loans (+21.0%), home loans (+13.1%), credit card receivables (+11.1%), and personal loans (+37.7%). The bank claims to be the fifth largest credit card issuer based on receivables, and the second largest auto loans provider in the country. The Philippine banking system ended 2018 with outstanding consumer loans of P1.7 trillion. The foregoing represented an 11.5% growth from P1.5 trillion in 2017. This, however, was slower than the 17.3% growth recorded in 2017 which was supported by a more favorable economic environment. Page 1 of 2 PRESS RELEASE While various banks and non-financial institutions continued to improve their consumer lending products, the willingness of consumers to take on such was dampened by the change in the income tax regime, and the adjustment in several excise tax rates following the implementation of TRAIN. The foregoing led to increased caution among lenders, consumers and businesses across all industries. Domestic consumer lending, though, showed signs of stabilization amidst such regulatory changes. While the growth of loans in the banking industry continued to be weighed down by the tight liquidity and high borrowing rates during the first half of 2019, the recent policy rate and reserve cuts by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), which have led to lower deposit interest rates, are expected to boost lending going forward. Moreover, based on the results of Q3 2019 Senior Bank Loan Officers’ Survey (SLOS) conducted by the BSP, majority of the respondent banks continued to see stable overall demand for loans from both enterprises and households. The overall net increase in loan demand was attributed by banks largely to the higher working capital requirements of firms, increased household consumption and banks’ more attractive financing terms. In addition, the domestic auto industry already showed signs of recovery as of October 2019. The industry’s sales for the first ten-month period, according to the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (CAMPI) and Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA), grew at a moderate 2.53% compared to its level in the same first-ten month period in 2018. Members of both organizations have so far sold 301,761 units since the beginning of 2019, as against 294,311 units in the same period last year. As of September 30, 2019, the Filinvest Group effectively owned 77.9% of EastWest Bank. Established by the late Andrew Gotianun, Sr. and his wife, Mercedes Gotianun in 1955, it evolved from being a small-scale financing company for second-hand cars to one of the country’s leading conglomerates, with interests in property, banking services, power, sugar, and infrastructure. Andrew and Mercedes’ children, namely Andrew Jr., Jonathan, Josephine, and Michael, now hold key positions within the Group. Jonathan Gotianun serves as the Chairman of FDC and also continues to be the Chairman of EastWest Bank. His mother Mercedes Gotianun and her sister Lourdes Josephine Gotianun-Yap, on the other hand, remain as EastWest Bank Directors. Appointed in May 2017, Jesus Roberto S. Reyes is President of EastWest Bank. Mr. Reyes has over thirty-two years of solid banking experience. Before joining EastWest Bank, he was the Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank). His banking experience also includes previous positions at Security Bank Corporation (Security Bank, Head of Treasury and Investment Banking) and Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC, Deputy Treasurer). Mr. Reyes takes over from Antonio C. Moncupa, Jr., who is now Vice Chairman of the Board. Mr. Moncupa also remains as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of EastWest Bank, and is thus expected to continue his active involvement in the bank’s management. Mr. Moncupa is largely credited for steering EastWest Bank’s growth, since assuming leadership of the bank in 2007. He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). Prior to joining the bank, Mr. Moncupa was Executive Vice President and CFO of the International Exchange Bank. Page 2 of 2 .