The Top Distressed Philippine Banks as of March 31, 2018

Editor's Note: The Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC) advised consumers to wisely choose the banks where they will deposit their money. The trouble is, most depositors don't and can't read financial statements before they open a bank account. The regulators, whose job is to safeguard the public's money, have not done a good job recently.  In the past ten years, two commercial banks, twenty-one thrift banks, and a staggering 187 rural banks have collapsed, often quite suddenly and without warning:  Regulators do have a problem bank list that they do not divulge to the public, for fear of sparking another bank run. So who can the public turn to, to advise them where to put their money? No one, except the banks themselves who will always promote their self-interests. This analysis is an attempt to fill in that knowledge gap, by screening out the weaker banks that seem ready to implode at any given moment.

Editor's Note: The ratio of Distressed Assets to Total Capital Cushion is a variant of the famous Texas Ratio, which was widely used by US financial regulators to predict bank failure during the US Savings and Loan Crisis in the 1980s and early 1990s. The basic premise is that a bank with Distressed Assets greater than its Capital Cushion is in danger of insolvency because a significant drop in the value of  the Distressed Assets will eat into a significant amount of the bank's capital.  A bank that has a Distressed Ratio greater than 100% is flagged as borderline insolvent.  For a more detailed discussion of this ratio, please visit a previous blog post: The Texas Ratio of Select Philippine Banks

This is a list of the top distressed Universal and Commercial (U/KB) as well as Thrift Banks in the Philippines as of March 31, 2018.  It updates a previous blog post: "The Top Distressed Philippine Banks as of December 31, 2017".

To see where your bank stands relative to these banks, please check the previous blog post: "Philippine Banks Improve Slightly in the 1st Quarter of 2018"

The list of Philippine Banks classified as distressed as of March 31, 2018 are as follows:

1.  Overseas Filipino Bank (Distressed Ratio of 429.04%)
2.  Inter-Asia Development Bank (Distressed Ratio of 399.57%)
3.  United Coconut Planters Bank (Distressed Ratio of 295.74%)
4.  Bangko Kabayan Inc (Distressed Ratio of 216.12%)
5.  Yuanta Savings Bank Philippines (Distressed Ratio of 171.89%)
6.  Malayan Bank Savings and Mortgage Bank Inc (Distressed Ratio of 163.37%)
7.  Luzon Development Bank (Distressed Ratio of 160.64%)
8.  Enterprise Bank Inc (Distressed Ratio of 158.04%)
9.  RCBC Savings Bank (Distressed Ratio of 130.68%)
10.  Bank of China Limited - Manila Branch (Distressed Ratio of 128.57%)
11.  China Bank Savings Inc (Distressed Ratio of 114.44%)
12.  Metro Cebu Public Savings Bank (Distressed Ratio of 114.05%)
13.  Equicom Savings Bank (Distressed Ratio of 111.49%)
14.  Philippine Resources Savings Banking Corporation (Distressed Ratio of 102.25%) 
15.  Bataan Development Bank (Distressed Ratio of 101.68%)

Source: www.bsp.gov.ph

Disclaimer:

This list only serves as a screening guide.  It is not a definitive guide and must be taken in the context of other factors.  The figures are based on the individual banks' statement of condition as of March 31, 2018 as published in the BSP website (www.bsp.gov.ph). For this analysis, no attempt was made to go through the audited financial statements of each bank. Readers are suggested to make their own investigations and verify the figures presented. Both BSP and PDIC have their own problem bank screening systems that are much more sophisticated in scope and design, given that they have more access to information over the banks they regulate.