by Prix D Banzon

Davao City (20 February) -- One Network Bank (ONB) is optimistic of positive growth in the banking industry this year as it targets some P6.1 billion in gross loans and a net income of P335 million which is very much higher than its performance last year.

ONB president Alex Buenaventura during the Davao Business Reporters Forum held at the MediSpa at SM City said he attributes the positive performance to a much bigger loans in agriculture as well as the salary loans of teachers including business loans.

"These are our main anchors and the agri loan have a 100 percent increase in loan availament," he said.

Buenaventura reported that in 2007 their net income after tax was pegged at P205 million while the gross loans reached P4.488 billion. ONB branches totaled to 65 and has about 61 ATM sites.

By 2008, Buenaventura said they would be opening new branches making the total number of ONB banks to 75 and the number of ATM sites at 88.

He said they had been negotiating for the opening of new branches in Surigao City, Gingoog City in Misamis Oriental, Ozamis City in Misamis Occidental, Dipolog and Sindangan in Zamboanga del Norte.

Buenaventura said each branch will have a capital expense of P7 million even as he said that they would be spending much on the land acquisition saying that in the selection of the site their priority of selection is the location based on their criteria.

"And we do not want to sacrifice the location and it has to be in accordance with our needs," he said.

He said they already filed the application and hopefully these additional five branches will be in operation soon.

The ONB has some 35 areas within their priority areas to set up their branch and these are all in Mindanao and it is within our policy that the operation will only be concentrated in the island, he said.

He said that even if they operate in the rural areas ONB status is like any commercial bank that could extend several products to include fund transfer and foreign remittances.