FDC nets P5.1B

The 244-ha Filinvest City

Gotianun family-led conglomerate Filinvest Development Corp. (FDC) booked a 15 percent year-on-year growth in first semester net profit to P5.1 billion on higher earnings from its property and banking businesses.

Group-wide revenues increased by 12 percent year-on-year to P32.5 billion, with the banking and property units contributing the bulk of revenues with a respective share of 42 percent and 38 percent, respectively. The power and sugar businesses contributed 15 percent and 5 percent, respectively, FDC said in a regulatory filing.

EastWest Bank grew its six-month net profit by 60 percent year-on-year to P2.5 billion on higher earnings from core lending. The consumer-focused universal bank grew its loan book by 19 percent year-on-year to P212 billion, led by the 34 percent growth in consumer loans.

The expansion in EastWest’s earning assets was partially funded by the 24 percent growth in deposits. Meanwhile, it continued to maintain its industry-leading net interest margin (NIM) of 7.8 percent while NIM, net of provisions for loan losses, stood at 6.1 percent.

“As you can see, our concluded branch store expansion is showing results with the growth in the core products of consumer loans and deposits,” FDC chair Jonathan Gotianun said in a press statement.

Property arm Filinvest Land Inc. booked a six-month net income of P2.7 billion, 8 percent higher than last year on the back of a 9-percent increase in revenues to P10 billion from both its residential development business as well as the continued strong demand for its retail and office spaces.

The power generation business grew revenues by 55.3 percent to P3.2 billion in the first semester as FDC Misamis coal plant commenced operations in the last quarter of 2016. However, overall cost of power remained almost flat due to the lower amount of power that was purchased in its operation of independent power producer contracts. Operating expenses amounted to P1.94 billion, five times higher year-on-year as the plant started booking depreciation and interest expense costs.

On the sugar business, six-month revenues amounted to P1.55 billion, lower by 38.9 percent year-on-year. The Mindanao area was greatly affected by the drought in 2016, resulting in considerable delays in the harvest of sugar cane, consequently leading to the late start of milling for the crop year, FDC said.

Hotel and other income surged by 60 percent to P1.04 billion on account of revenues contributed by Quest Hotel and Golf Clark in Mimosa estate, which the group started to operate in the third quarter of 2016.

The Filinvest group has been focusing on its projects in the Clark corridor. Together, FDC and FLI have a joint venture with the Clark Development Corp. to redevelop the 200-hectare Filinvest Mimosa Estate into an integrated leisure township with retail, office, hospital and golf facilities. The group’s hotel arm has taken over management of the existing hotel and golf facilities and rebranded them to Quest Hotel and Conference Center-Clark and Mimosa Golf-Clark.

Development in the area has started with the expansion of major roads and construction of its first office building, Cyberzone Mimosa 1. In addition, FLI has a joint venture with the Bases Conversion Development Authority to develop 288 hectares of Clark Green City into a mixed-use township with an industrial park anchor. Clark Green City is envisioned to be the country’s newest sustainable urban community and globally-competitive investment center that is smart, green and disaster-resilient.

“We look forward to continued growth in 2017, as we not only see the fruition of strategic decisions made in the past but also we explore the new opportunities for growth in the Philippines,” said FDC president Josephine Gotianun-Yap.