SMIC books P 10.6-B profit as businesses shake off doldrums
The country’s most valuable conglomerate SM Investments Corp. (SMIC) boosted its second quarter net profit as core businesses recovered from the slump seen in the same period last year, or when pandemic-related quarantine protocols in the country were at their strictest.
SMIC generated about P10.6 billion in net profit in the second quarter, reversing the rare net loss of P1.9 billion incurred in the same period last year. It also marked a 12.2-percent improvement from the P9.47-billion net profit booked in the first quarter of this year despite the metro’s return to a strict lockdown in April.
For the first six months, SMIC’s net profit reached P20.1 billion, coming from a low base of P7.1 billion in the same period last year.
Banking accounted for 58 percent of net earnings in the first half, followed by property at 28 percent and retail at 14 percent.
“Our businesses continued to perform resiliently, recovering well as conditions allowed. Our banking and residential businesses performed well as we also continued to invest in long-term expansion with new stores, bank branches, residential project launches and investments in malls, as well as taking a majority stake in 2GO in our equity investment portfolio,” SMIC president and CEO Frederic DyBuncio said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Wednesday.
“We are hopeful that the recovery momentum continues as we see more Filipinos get vaccinated,” DyBuncio said.
SMIC gained control of 2GO, the country’s largest logistics player, when it increased its stake to 52.89 percent in end-June.
SMIC’s consolidated revenues rose by 4 percent year-on-year to P193.5 billion in the first half. SM Retail’s six-month net profit, meanwhile, came in at P3.6 billion from a low base of P522 million in the previous period, “benefiting from cost reductions implemented in the first quarter across all formats and further efficiencies in the second quarter,” the company said.
SM Retail reported six-month revenues of P138.2 billion, slightly lower than P139.2 billion in the previous period. Nonfood revenues grew by 17.8 percent, with online and delivery operations contributing 13.1 percent of total.
BDO, China Banking Corp. and SM Prime Holdings likewise reported a jump in profits.
