Ayala group’s 9-month bottom line jumps 18% to P23.2B

Fernando Zobel de Ayala

Conglomerate Ayala Corp. grew its net profit in the first nine months by 18 percent year-on-year to P23.2 billion led by robust earnings from its property business.

In the third quarter alone, Ayala’s net income rose by 39 percent year-on-year to P8.2 billion, driven by earnings from Ayala Land, Bank of the Philippine Islands and AC Energy. Excluding one-off transaction gains, Ayala’s third quarter net income grew by 26 percent from a year ago.

“Most of our business units have continued to achieve solid growth this year,” Ayala president and chief operating officer Fernando Zobel de Ayala said. “We are pleased to note that even excluding the transaction gains from various strategic initiatives for the period, Ayala’s nine-month net income still expanded 18 percent from the previous year.”

In power generation, AC Energy’s nine-month net income surged by 73 percent year-on-year to P2 billion, driven by the fresh contribution of its geothermal asset in Indonesia.  Earnings were likewise boosted by services income from the financial closing of a new power plant in the third quarter.

Equity earnings from AC Energy’s operating assets rose by 20 percent year-on-year to P1.6 billion. Renewable energy platforms contributed 52 percent to equity earnings.

Industrial arm AC Industrials booked a net income of P1 billion in the first nine months, up by 5 percent year-on-year. The stronger performance of its electronics manufacturing business offset lower contribution from its vehicle retail segment.

Revenue from the vehicle retail segment expanded by 30 percent year-on-year to P21.2 billion, supported by strong sales of its Honda BR-V, Honda Civic and Isuzu truck models. Despite higher sales, however, net income fell by 10 percent to P445 million due to lower dividend income from Isuzu Philippines Corp. and lower equity earnings from Honda Cars Philippines Inc.

AC Infrastructure continued to strengthen the operations of its three public-private partnership projects: LRT1 operator Light Railway Manila Corp., Muntinlupa-Cavite Expressway and the Beep ticketing system.

In social infrastructure, the generic medicine store network under Generika grew revenue by 13 percent to P2.3 billion year-on-year, driven by higher network retail sales.

Other operating units earlier reported nine-month performance as follows:

Ayala Land’s net income rose by 18  to P17.8 billion on the sustained performance of the residential segment, office-for-sale, and commercial leasing businesses.

Bank of the Philippine Islands posted P17 billion in net income, 1.9 percent lower year-on-year.

Integrated Micro-Electronics posted a 16-percent rise in net earnings to $24.1 million.

Globe Telecom’s profit rose by 11 percent to P13 billion on continued demand for data-related services alongside a P1.9-billion gain from the strategic partnership forged by Mynt.

Manila Water’s net earnings ended flat from a year ago at P4.9 billion.—DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA