Tobacco, bank, liquor boost LTG income to P 29B
MANILA, Philippines — Conglomerate LT Group Inc. (LTG) saw its earnings last year grow by 14 percent to a record P28.92 billion on the strength of its tobacco, banking and liquor arms, offsetting the weakness of its real estate business amid industry-wide challenges.
The business house led by taipan Lucio Tan disclosed to the stock exchange on Monday that its revenues rose by 11.8 percent to P128.96 billion.
Fortune Tobacco Corp. contributed P12.77 billion to the group’s total earnings, up by 12 percent, due to higher dividends received from cigarette manufacturer PMFTC Inc.
READ: Banking lifts LTG earnings, tobacco unit falters
This was even as affordability issues, illicit trade and growing popularity of vaping dragged down PMFTC’s cigarette volume by 11 percent to 21.1 billion.
Philippine National Bank, meanwhile, booked an 11-percent gain in its bottom line to P21.18 billion due to higher yields and volumes of loans, investments and interbank transactions.
Net interest income was also up by 11 percent to P49.34 billion.
Operating expenses registered a 2-percent decline to P33.5 billion due to lower provisions for impairment, credit and other losses.
Liquor arm Tanduay Distillers Inc. reached an all-time high net income of P2.15 billion, representing a 37-percent surge, on higher volume of liquor and bioethanol.
Revenues likewise climbed by 13 percent to P33.85 billion due to higher liquor prices. Cost of sales was up by 11 percent to P28.92 billion.
Last October, Tanduay sold its 94.7-percent stake in Asian Alcohol Corp. to Prior Holdings Corp. for P1.8 billion. LTG did not disclose further details about the transaction.
Earnings of Asia Brewery Inc., whose brands include Absolute and Summit bottled water, swelled by 46 percent to P841 million, driven by higher sales volume across major product lines.
Revenues for this segment inched up by 5 percent to P14.14 billion.
At the same time, weak leasing income and higher costs pulled down the earnings of Eton Properties Philippines Inc. by 53 percent to P212 million. —Meg J. Adonis INQ
