The Bank's products and services may have been in demand, they may have been responsive, they may even be superior, but sound financial performance can spell the difference in its success or failure. Banking remains a business that must make profits to sustain its operations and continue with its service. The Bank's growth is consistent as the following will show.

Resources

The first sign of the Bank's exuberant performance has been the consistent growth of its resources. The New Rural Bank of San Leonardo started in 1994 with resources of only a little above PhP30 Million or just over US$581,000. By the end of 2007, total resources were already at PhP371.58 million ($7.74 million) a remarkable growth of about 1,138%. And as of October 2008, the Bank's level of resources is already at PhP465 Million (US$9.4 Million).

Deposits

Another proof of the Bank's continuing growth is the growth of its deposits, which is just as phenomenal as the growth of its resources. Year-end 2007 saw its deposit levels at PhP182.22 Million or US$3.87 Million. That is a growth of 40 times in 13 years! And the October 31, 2008 deposit level is at PhP225.30 Million (US$4.79 Million) already.

If one takes a closer look at the Bank's deposit liabilities by number of depositors (as of October 31, 2008), the composition, the class of depositing clientele can be gleaned from the figures. This shows that 83% of the Bank's depositors (or 11,308 of them from a total of 13,594 depositors) have savings of below P5,000. These depositors, with deposit balances ranging from a few hundred pesos to a few thousands, come from the poorer, low-income sector.

If we look at the report on Deposit Liabilities by Amount as of October 31, 2008, we'll see that almost 70% of the total amount of deposits come from depositors with placements amounting to PhP200,000 and above, and these are evidently from the moneyed sector or those with a lot of savings from surplus incomes. But those with balances of below P30,000 are also significant, as they have more than PhP22 Million in deposits in our Bank, or almost 10% of the total PhP225.29 Million deposit liabilities as of October 31, 2008.

This is proof positive that in San Leonardo, a lot of enterprising poor are doing business, earning surplus incomes, and saving. These hard-earned savings, where else do they entrust, but in the New Rural Bank of San Leonardo, forming part of a very solid deposit base!

Loans

Yet another strong indicator of the Bank's unstoppable growth is the loan portfolio. In 1994, we had a portfolio of PhP6.3 Million (or US$115,624) loans outstanding. By year-end 2007, our loans outstanding soared to PhP263.19 Million (or almost US$6 Million). And as of October 31, 2008, the level was PhP293.79 Million (or US$6.4 Million) already.

And in the NRBSL experience, only a negligible few fail to pay their obligations, what we bankers refer to as past due loans. If the industry average for past due loans is 20%, we only have around 2.0% past due.

Early on in its existence, the Bank made no bones about its strictness in the conduct of its operations, dead-serious in exacting discipline in its relationship with its clients. This has been instrumental in the Bank being able to maintain a standard in credit and collection envied in the industry. This, despite the fact that the Bank has no collection department!

Net Income After Tax

In 2007, the Bank's net income after tax increased by 20% from the previous year's level of P12.64 million. The P15.18 million-mark is also the highest level achieved by the bank since its existence, and the 20% annual increase surpassed the 11-year annual average growth rate of 19.8%.

Net Worth

Net Worth steadily increased from its PhP5.6 Million (or US$103,350) level as at year-end 1994 to over P104 Million (or US$ 2.2 million) by year-end 2007. The increase in net worth of P10.69 million in 2007 marks the fourth consecutive year since 2004 that the Bank has reached a double-digit incremental increase in net worth.