GT Capital Q1 profit jumps 21%

Tycoon George Ty-led GT Capital Holdings posted a 21-percent year-on-year growth in first quarter net profit to P3.74 billion on higher share of earnings from its banking, insurance and infrastructure businesses.

Excluding one-off items, GT Capital’s three-month core profit rose by 18 percent year-on-year to P3.75 billion, the company disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange yesterday.

GT Capital booked consolidated revenue of P45.5 billion in the first three months, owing to higher equity in net income of associates Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. (Metrobank), AXA Philippines and Metro Pacific Investments Corp.

“The interim soft numbers for the auto sector during the first quarter resulted from the front-loading of orders late last year in anticipation of the new excise tax. We expect sales to normalize by the second half of the year. Nevertheless, significant contributions from our associate companies Metrobank, Metro Pacific, and AXA Philippines resulted in strong first quarter growth,” GT Capital president Carmelo Maria Luza Bautista said.

Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP)’s first quarter net profit slipped by 4.6 percent year-on-year to P2.36 billion. Three-month sales declined by 9.3 percent to P33.7 billion as demand slowed with the imposition of new auto excise taxes law alongside supply limitations.

TMP sold 34,440 vehicles in the first quarter, maintaining a market-leading share of 36 percent.

Metrobank reported unaudited consolidated net income of P5.9 billion for the first quarter, up 5.3 percent from the level in the same period last year, on the back of sustained growth in the core business.

Earnings share from Metrobank also increased as GT Capital raised its ownership in the bank to 36.09 percent from 26.47 percent in the first quarter of last year.

The insurance business under AXA saw a 46.8-percent growth in first quarter net income to P627.9 million.

For its part, infrastructure affiliate Metro Pacific reported a 16-percent rise in consolidated core net income to P3.6 billion for the first quarter on the back of strong volume growth across the portfolio and the increased investment in the power industry last year.