The Philippine lender trades at roughly 0.3052 times book value, reflecting deep skepticism about its consumer-loan portfolio. Its margins, reserve-building and importance to the Gotianun family’s Filinvest empire make the shares difficult to dismiss. MANILA— Investors generally don’t get a 7.4% dividend yield and acquire a profitable bank for roughly 35 centavos on the peso of book value without accepting some uncomfortable questions. East West Banking Corp., the consumer-focused lender controlled by the Gotianun family’s Filinvest Development Corp., offers precisely that bargain—or trap. At a recent price near ₱11 a share, EastWest carries a market value of about ₱25 billion, against June shareholders’ equity of ₱81.7 billion. Depending on the price date and whether a data provider uses reported or tangible book value, the shares change hands at roughly 0.31 times reported book value and around 0.35 times tangible book value . The bank’s latest ₱0.82-a-share dividend produces ...