Listed firms grew core earnings 7.1% in H1

Corporate Philippines grew average core earnings by about 7.1 percent in the first semester compared with a year ago, with mining, utilities and property outperforming other sectors, a new research by investment house CLSA said.

In an assessment made by the CLSA research team led by analyst Alfred Dy as the recent reporting season of publicly listed companies ended, corporate earnings for the second quarter alone were estimated to have grown an average 18.6 percent year on year.

While mining, utilities and property were cited by the August 26 report as the sectors that “impressed the most,” cited as “laggards” were construction and building materials, media and power.

The interim results were in line with CLSA’s forecast of a growth of 6 percent in corporate Philippines’ core earnings per share (EPS) this year and 15.6 percent by 2012.

Excluding telecom companies, core EPS growth was projected at 6.8 percent for 2011 and 18.1 percent in 2012.

In the first six months, the research noted that the mining, utilities and property sectors stood out with their respective earnings growth levels of 126.4 percent, 40.7 percent and 30.1 percent.

On the other hand, CLSA noted a slowdown in earnings by construction and building materials (-44.1 percent), media (-30.9 percent) and power (-29.3 percent).

For the second quarter alone, mining and utilities still led the outperformers with their respective earnings increases of 90.9 percent and 52.5 percent. The banking sector likewise impressed investors with a 30.2-percent average growth in second-quarter earnings.

The laggards for the quarter were still construction and building materials (-49.2 percent), media (-39.3 percent), and power (-5 percent).

In terms of specific companies, CLSA said the most impressive in the first semester in terms of earnings growth were Philex Mining (+233.6 percent), Nickel Asia (+148.9 percent), Phoenix Petroleum (+125.6 percent), Semirara Mining (+79.6 percent), and SM Development (+53.9 percent).

On the other hand, cited as the first-semester laggards given a decline in profit were Energy Development Corp. (-57.7 percent), Holcim (-49.7 percent), Belle Corp (-43.7 percent), First Gen (-38 percent) and GMA Holdings (-37.5 percent).

For the second quarter, CLSA said the most impressive in terms of earnings growth were: Philex (+330 percent), First Philippine Holdings (+119.8 percent), Metrobank (+89.5 percent), Phoenix Petroleum (+84 percent) and Megawide Construction (+83.8 percent).

CLSA noted that the second-quarter laggards given their respective earnings contraction were Holcim (-54.9 percent), Energy Development Corp. (-51.1 percent), ABS-CBN (-40.5 percent), GMA Holdings (-37.6 percent), Belle Corp. (-23 percent) and Cebu Air (-23 percent).