The Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) has been lauded as one of the best companies to work for in Asia. Inquirer reported that it counted itself as one of the country's businesses that were recognized for the award in 2019. HR Asia gave the award to the bank last July 5. HR Asia is one of Asia's "most authoritative publication" for HR professions.

The award covered 12 markets across Asia and is given to corporations who put their employee engagement and workplace culture at the highest regards.

The way that they treat their workforce is also reviewed. The companies were judged by an independent panel made up of experts of the industry, academics, government representatives, and journalists who were invited based on the results of the HR Asia Employee Input Survey as well as the HR Asia Workplace and Employee Engagement Survey.

Unionbank has certainly been on a run. The earnings of the majorly-Aboitiz-owned Union Bank of the Philippines rose up to almost two percent, good for $92 million in the first half to around $91 million by the second quarter, after a robust performance.

The bank also said that the growth of earnings assets remained sustained, bucking the lower margins and strategic investment in its "digital transformation," according to Phil Star Global.

The Philippine Stock Exchange received the disclosure of results, as well as a statement from the bank, which read that higher fee income from different businesses involved in consumer and securities trading contributed to an "improved bottom line."

The first half of 2019 served as a witness to the rise of such investments.

The interest income of the bank was up by 17.8 percent, resulting in a $190 million value from January to June.

This is in comparison to $160 million during the same period the previous year as interest income moved up to 38.7% for a $360 million reading. Interest expense also climbed up to 74% to $96 million.

The bank also added that profitability and efficiency ratios were above the industry standard. They expected it to end better than last year, with return on equity rated around 10.6%, return on assets at 1.4%, and revenue-to-expense ratio numbers valued at 1.7%.

As for the awards, HR Asia revealed how many companies and winners were announced. 190 companies were surveyed this year, with 23 winners being declared and one of them was Union Bank of the Philippines. It's not surprising, considering how their year has been so far.