BDO Unibank Inc., the country’s biggest lender led by the SM group, said it will remain cautious yet still aggressive in its expansion this year even as its profits seem headed to beat last year’s record performance.
In a news briefing, BDO president and CEO Nestor V. Tan said that, he prefers to take the bank’s performance one quarter at a time.
Tan said they remain cautious because of geopolitical risks.
“Being cautious does not mean you pull back. Being cautious means that you just have to manage the consequences and prepare for it. So, basically, if we have outperformed (in 2023), it’s because we’re cautious, and we’ve looked at the eventualities, and we adjusted our strategy or actions to take advantage of it,” he added.
Tan said the bank will still be aggressive in going after good credits but not “when you say aggressive which is going down the risk spectrum.”
“If you look at what we’re doing, we’re not sacrificing quality. We’re just reaching out to more. So, when you reach out to a bigger market, to a bigger geographic reach, you tend to get more good credits. So we’re aggressive in terms of going after good credits but not aggressive in the sense of going down the risk chain and sacrificing quality,” he added.
For capital expenditures, Tan said while he does not have the figure for BDO’s budget this year, the bulk will be allocated for information technology and branch expansion.
“We’re looking at about a hundred to 120 new branches across the whole group. Which means BDO Network Bank and main bank. Our technology expansion will continue with the current rate that we have,” he said.
Meanwhile, the BDO Board of Directors approved an increase in the regular cash dividends on common shares of BDO to P1.00 per share per quarter beginning on the second quarter of 2024. This will be the new dividend policy of BDO going forward.
It also approved the declaration as property dividends the Treasury shares arising from the merger of BDO and SM Keppel Land Inc., with BDO as the surviving entity.
The merger, which is subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals, will result in the creation of Treasury shares equivalent to approximately one percent of current outstanding shares.