Based on a regulatory filing, consolidated earnings per share for the period stood at P1.01, up by 19 percent from a year ago.
The operating segments of DMCI, the newest Philippine company to join the MSCI Global Standard Indices, marked first-quarter year-on-year profit performance as follows: coal mining down by 12 percent to P650 million; water venture, up by 23 percent to P611 million; real estate, up by 81 percent to P405 million; power, up by 53 percent to P400 million; nickel mining, up 37 percent to P269 million; and construction, down by 22 percent to P282 million. Other income was up by 456 percent to P57 million.
Although coal mining capacity is higher this year than last year, total materials moved fell by 17 percent year on year at 22.30 million bank cubic meters (bcm). DMCI, through a consortium that also includes Metro Pacific, has an indirect ownership of 40.98 percent in Maynilad Water Services, which reported an increase in billed volume of 10.1 percent despite a 2.3 percent dip in water supply. Non-revenue water for the period dropped to 45.43 percent this year from 51.58 percent a year ago.
The rise in net profit contribution by the real estate segment through DMCI Homes was supported by the 51-percent growth in housing sales to P1.7 billion, caused mainly by the completion of units already sold. Margins also inched up due to “slightly higher prices with improved quality and amenities for the projects while maintaining cost efficiencies.”
As an indication of current demand, sales and reservations for the period dipped to P5.3 billion from P5.4 billion in the same period last year.
In power generation, the first unit of its Calaca power plant is undergoing rehabilitation, which is expected to be completed by early June. Total energy generated from Unit 2 is 473 megawatts, or 250 percent higher than year-ago level.
Despite the growth in revenue, DMCI’s construction business posted lower net contribution due mainly to the lower margins of the majority of its ongoing building projects.
DMCI expects major works at the new coal power plant projects in Calaca and Balanga, Batangas, to contribute not just improved construction revenues but also higher margins.