BPI Confident of Low-Teen Loan Growth in 2026 Amid Economic Challenges

Ayala-led Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) on Wednesday said it remains confident of achieving low-teen loan growth this year as the bank strengthens its collections amid challenging economic conditions. According to BPI President and Chief Executive Officer Jose Teodoro Limcaoco, first-half results indicate that the bank can still grow its loan portfolio by double digits this year, a target he first announced in 2025. "In the first half, we grew at 12%. BDO (Unibank) grew 15%. So with BDO growing 15%, I'm fairly confident that we should still be able to grow low double-digits, low teens," he told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Manila City. BPI's total loans grew 12% to P2.7 trillion in the first semester, driven mainly by growth in its consumer and small business segments. Institutional loans expanded by 8.7%, while non-institutional loans increased by 21.2%. "What we do see is some of our consumer lines are deteriorating, and some are not. On average, it balances out, but clearly, times are a little tough, so we're also tightening credit standards and beefing up collections," Limcaoco said. In the same interview, Limcaoco said he does not expect the bank's nonperforming loan (NPL) ratio to deteriorate. The ratio stood at 1.64% in the first half, an improvement from 1.75% a year earlier. "Remember, the war broke out at the end of February, so we already saw some effect in the first quarter, and the second quarter shows our NPL for the first half is the same as the first quarter. I don't think we'll see a deterioration across the portfolio," he said. Moving forward, Limcaoco said the bank's earnings will be affected by higher provisioning due to prevailing economic conditions. "The difference from last year and this year is our revenues are strong, but our provisioning is elevated because economic conditions are worsening. When economic conditions worsen, your expected credit loss model requires you to put more provisions," he said. "Even though NPLs aren't rising, because economic conditions are less positive, you have to put more. That's just what the model says. And so when economic conditions come back, you'll be able to reduce your provisions," he added. The Philippine economy grew by 2.8% in the first quarter of the year, slower than the 3% expansion in the fourth quarter of 2025 and the 5.4% growth recorded a year earlier. It was the weakest economic performance since the -3.8% contraction during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns in the first quarter of 2021. Economic officials have attributed the slowdown to the ongoing conflict between the United States and Iran in the Middle East, as well as the lingering impact of the flood control project corruption scandal on government spending. —VBL, GMA News