the Outsider - PSE Points to Ponder

  In Q1 2026, Philippine National Bank won the low-provision race, setting aside far less than China Bank and helping both banks keep profits in the ₱6bn club. In Philippine banking’s first quarter of 2026, the race was not merely to lend more, widen margins or charm depositors. It was also to provision less. On that track, Philippine National Bank crossed the line ahead of China Banking Corporation. PNB set aside just ₱225.7m for impairment, credit and other losses, down 18.6% from a year earlier, saying the decline reflected improved credit portfolio performance . CBC, by contrast, booked a still-modest but larger ₱683.8m provision, up from ₱285.1m a year earlier.  The prize was visible in the bottom line. PNB’s net income reached ₱6.37bn , while CBC’s was ₱6.78bn . In both cases, small credit charges helped keep earnings comfortably in the ₱6bn range , despite a quarter marked by market volatility, bond-price pain and noisy treasury results.  Yet the two banks arri...

  CBC’s clean loan book spared it from the credit-cost pain seen at peers, but a ₱4.1bn trading, securities and FX loss—and steep FVOCI marks—revealed how turbulent markets bruised an otherwise solid quarter. For a bank, there are many ways to make money look easy. The simplest is to lend well, collect cheaply, and avoid nasty surprises. In the first quarter of 2026, China Banking Corporation did much of that. Net income rose 4.3% year on year to ₱6.8bn , net interest income jumped 13.8% to ₱19.5bn , and its net interest margin widened to 4.61% from 4.49% . Loans grew, deposits grew, and bad loans stayed tame. On the surface, it was the sort of quarter a conservative bank would happily frame.  Yet beneath the tidy headline lay a messy truth: China Bank’s earnings were rescued not by treasury skill, but by credit calm. The bank booked a striking ₱4.1bn net loss from trading, securities and foreign exchange , wider than the ₱3.7bn loss recorded a year earlier. The line is not ...