Security Bank Corporation (PSE: SECB) posted a net income of P657 million for the second quarter of 2007, a year-on-year improvement of P187 million or 40%.

Continued growth in deposits which reached P100 billion coupled with an expansion of resources, particularly a P8.0 billion increase in net loans to P41.6 billion; net interest income for the quarter jumped 34.7% to P1.22 billion over the comparative period in 2006. Meanwhile, other income continued a robust growth of P173.2 million or 45% to P556.9 million. Even more impressive is the growth in fees, service charges, commissions and miscellaneous income which grew a combined P214.4 million or 92% to P448.6 million. With continued growth in its commercial foreign exchange distribution activities, foreign exchange gains registered P104.0 million, up by 156% over the second quarter of 2006. The favorable performance more than offset a slowdown in securities trading gains which registered only P4.3 million versus the P108.8 million recorded a year earlier.

Chief Financial Officer, Carlos M. Borromeo added: “We were cognizant that, with the further reduction in interest rates experienced this year versus last, trading gains were expected to slow down. Hence, we placed increasing focus on building both the net margin and other income components of our revenue base. We are quite pleased that our efforts have proven quite favorable.”

The bank has continued to report remarkable results as its operating profits (excluding provisions and amortizations) registered a growth in underlying profitability versus the second quarter of 2006 of P325 million or 60% to P870.5 million. This translates to an underlying profit per share for the quarter of P2.64 versus P 1.66 the year before. After netting out taxes, earnings per share stood at P1.99 for the second quarter of 2007. This translated to an annualized return on equity for the period of 22.6%.