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The Chinatrust Commercial Bank Corp. is planning to open a new branch in Cagayan de Oro either late this year or the first quarter of next year. The planned branch would be the second in Mindanao and the 24th in the country, after it began operating in 1995. Its first branch in Mindanao was in Davao City which it puts in 2006.

The new branch was propelled by aggressive business moves of the small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

The planned expansion, said Chinatrust’s business head Anna Liza Cuezon, “only indicates that the small and medium enterprises are really doing good business in the country, and many of them comprise the bulk of our clients. It would also indicate that our bank has not been affected by the global financial crisis.”

The bank has the lowest lending rate in the country today at 3.5 percent, where the prevailing industry rate is between 8.5% and 12%.

Chinatrust Philippines is a subsidiary of Chinatrust Commercial Bank Corp. which is the largest and most awarded private commercial bank Taiwan. It was also included in the list of top 200 biggest banks in terms of capital.

The bank has an asset size of more than $48.86 billion and enjoys a credit rating of A2 from Moody’s, A from Standard and Poor’s, and A from Fitch. It is said to be a “credit rating unmatched by any local Philippine bank” today.

Bank president Mark Chen disclosed that on the first five months of the year, it recorded a net income after tax of P85.72 million for its 23 branches, or 379.16% higher than its P30.7-million loss recorded over the same period last year.

This increase in net income was attributed to the growth in the bank’s interest income, which was recorded at 17.14 percent, or equivalent to P127.78 million.