The Rural Bank of Sta. Rosa (Laguna) has reported a significant increase in net income for the first nine months of 2024.
Its net income reached PHP 166.7 million (approximately US$ 2.8 million), compared to an estimated PHP 94.5 million (US$ 1.7 million) during the same period last year.
This surge follows a January acquisition by fintech firm Salmon, which secured a 59.7% controlling stake and injected capital to invest in technology and talent.
The bank attributes its success to this investment and a growing loan portfolio, which now stands at PHP 798.8 million, up from PHP 67.5 million the previous year.
Deposits have also climbed significantly, reaching PHP 522.1 million from PHP 77.5 million.
With existing branches in Laguna and Bacoor, Cavite, the bank is pursuing an expansion strategy with plans to open a new location in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City, by the second quarter of 2025 and is actively exploring opportunities in Cebu.
Chairman Raffy Montemayor, who is also co-founder of Salmon, revealed plans to increase the bank’s authorised capital to PHP 2 billion by the end of 2025 to further support these initiatives and enhance the bank’s technology, talent pool, and product offerings.
Salmon is also preparing to launch a prepaid card on the Mastercard network linked to customer credit lines, enabling transactions with partner merchants across the country.
“This increase in net income we’re going to be re-injecting to the bank as we invest in new technologies and new people. The financial position of the bank is really good.
We’re growing it profitably and sustainably which will allow us to inject more technology which will allow us to inject more people, put everything in place so that we can really scale up the business and scale up the bank itself and hopefully progress its license over time,”
said Montemayor.
Salmon and the Rural Bank of Sta. Rosa are supported by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group; Northstar Group, a Singapore-headquartered private equity and venture capital fund manager; ADQ, the sovereign wealth fund of Abu Dhabi; and other international and Filipino investors.
