BDO Warns of Slower Profit Growth in 2025 Despite Solid First Quarter Performance

PASAY CITY — Despite reporting a steady first-quarter income boost, BDO Unibank Inc. expects a slower earnings growth for 2025, largely due to declining interest rates, according to its president and CEO Nestor Tan.

Speaking during the bank’s annual stockholders’ meeting, Tan revealed that BDO posted a ₱19.7-billion net income from January to March 2025, up 7% from ₱18.5 billion a year earlier. However, he cautioned against seeing this early success as a sign of full-year performance.

“The 7% growth in the first quarter was actually affected by uncertainty,” Tan explained, citing challenges such as foreign exchange volatility and the ongoing decline in interest rates.

The bank’s Q1 gains were supported by a 12% expansion in customer loans to ₱3.3 trillion and a 6% rise in total deposits to ₱3.8 trillion.

Despite BDO’s ₱82-billion full-year net income in 2024—a 12% jump from 2023—Tan indicated that replicating similar growth this year would be unlikely. “Growth will still happen, but probably not at the same level as last year,” he said.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) recently resumed its monetary policy easing, slashing interest rates by 25 basis points in April 2025. Further cuts totaling another 50 basis points are anticipated within the year, according to Tan.

He added that while the US tariff policies under President Donald Trump create global economic concerns, the Philippines remains relatively shielded due to its domestic and consumption-driven economy.

“Tariffs will impact the global economy, but not as severely for the Philippines,” Tan assured, emphasizing BDO’s strong market position and robust capital standing to weather economic uncertainties.