SMIC Q1 profit up by 5%

The country’s largest conglomerate SM Investments Corp. (SMIC) grew its first-quarter net profit by 5 percent year-on-year to P9.5 billion, buoyed by higher earnings contributed by its banking and retail businesses.

The retail business saw a 36-percent year-on-year improvement in three-month net profit to P1.6 billion as belt-tightening measures amid the prolonged pandemic made up for the 14-percent year-on-year drop in revenues to P70 billion.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, SMIC said its food segment, or its chain of supermarkets, saw significant savings as stores shifted to more energy-efficient lighting and refrigeration.

Applying cost reduction measures, SM Retail’s specialty stores also grew net earnings by 58 percent year-on-year.

SMIC’s consolidated first-quarter revenues amounted to P96.9 billion, down by 13 percent year-on-year.

“As our businesses adapt to a challenging operating environment and broader economic uncertainties, we continue to innovate and find new ways to service our customers’ needs. We have reduced our operating costs and are benefiting from the high levels of cost efficiency that we focused on during the last 12 months,” SMIC president and chief executive Frederic DyBuncio said.

Banking accounted for 54 percent of SMIC’s first quarter net earnings, followed by property at 33 percent and retail at 13 percent. —DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA