Banking unit weighs down Filinvest profit

Filinvest Development Corp. of the Gotianun group posted a 12 percent year-on-year decline in nine-month net profit to P3.77 billion, weighed down by lower earnings contribution from the banking business. For the third quarter alone, net profit amounted to P3.2 billion, compared to P4.3 billion registered in the same period last year, the company yesterday reported in a regulatory filing. Consolidated revenues went up by 8.2 percent year-on-year to P27.6 billion during the nine-month period, buoyed by a robust property business. The bulk of its revenues were generated by the real estate (47 percent) and banking (42 percent) subsidiaries. Sugar and hotels contributed 8 percent and 3 percent of revenues, respectively. Core earnings of major subsidiaries went up by 25 percent during this period albeit tempered by the decline in trading gains of banking unit East West Bank. On the other hand, property arm Filinvest Land Inc. (FLI) grew its nine-month net profit by 19 percent to P2.9 billion, driven by its real estate development business as well as its office leasing operations. “The Filinvest group has been in an aggressive investment mode with the unprecedented  branch expansion of East West Bank, the build up of office building portfolio of FLI as well as the construction of Mindanao’s largest power plant. Such expansion will provide the necessary infrastructure for future solid growth but is expected to impact the group earnings in the short term,” FDC president Josephine Gotianun-Yap said. FDC ended the period with equity of P87.3 billion. Total assets increased by 13 percent year-on-year to P306.6 billion. Gotianun-Yap also announced that power subsidiary FDC Utilities Inc. (FDCUI) would start contributing revenue ahead of schedule by 2015 from its independent power producer administrator contracts. FDCUI won the right to manage the 140-megawatt contracted capacity of the Mount Apo and Unified Leyte geothermal power plants.  Turnover is expected at the end of the year.  Doris C. Dumlao