SM Investments Corp. (SMIC), the country’s largest business house in terms of market capitalization, shattered its own first-semester earnings record, propelling the conglomerate toward another banner year as it gears up for expansion.
Although lower than its 2023 second half earnings, SMIC’s profit in the first six months of the year grew by 10 percent to P40.2 billion as its property and banking units surged.
“Considering that the seasonality of SM’s earnings leans heavily toward the second half of the year, we can safely assume that the company is headed for another banner year,” Alfred Benjamin Garcia, research head at stock brokerage house AP Securities Inc., told the Inquirer in a Viber message.
The Sy family-led conglomerate on Wednesday said revenues in the January to June period had risen by 5 percent to P301.4 billion.
”SM’s double-digit growth in the first half reflects a positive environment for our businesses,” SMIC president and CEO Frederick DyBuncio said in a statement.
Banking under BDO Unibank Inc. and China Banking Corp. accounted for half of the conglomerate’s total earnings, while property via SM Prime Holdings Inc. contributed 27 percent.
SM Retail accounted for 14 percent, while the share of portfolio investments was 9 percent.
According to SMIC, a high base in 2023 due to less mobility restrictions resulted in a 9.5-percent decline in retail income to P7.6 billion. Revenues from this segment were up 4 percent to P196.9 billion.
Meanwhile, SM Prime netted P22.1 billion, up by 13 percent, due to growth in its mall and residential businesses.
This is also SM Prime’s new record for semestral earnings.
BDO likewise posted its highest first-half earnings at P39.4 billion, up by 12 percent on growth in its fee-based services businesses.
Chinabank’s earnings during the period also inched up by 6 percent to a record P11.4 billion as lending and deposit-taking activities strengthened.
Last month, SMIC raised $500 million from the offshore debt market, marking its largest bond issuance abroad in a decade to support aggressive expansion plans.