AEV profit down 13% in ’14

Conglomerate Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc. posted a 13-percent decline in 2014 net profit to P18.4 billion due to lower earnings contributed by its power and banking businesses.

For the fourth quarter alone, AEV’s net profit fell 8 percent year-on-year to P4.1 billion, the company disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange yesterday.

For the full year, the power business accounted for 71 percent of total earnings, followed by banking, food and land development, with a respective income contribution of 18 percent, 7 percent and 4 percent.

Taking out non-recurring items, AEV’s core net income for 2014 dropped 15 percent to P17.9 billion. A non-recurring gain of P436 million was incurred from the revaluation of the consolidated dollar-denominated liabilities and placements of its flagship power unit and a one-off gain of P634 million from the sale of some investments. Aboitiz Power also booked a non-recurring expense from the acquisition of electricity distribution firm Lima Utilities Corp.

Aboitiz Power’s 2014 net income dropped 10 percent to P16.7 billion, after booking a non-recurring loss of P135.6 million mostly due to the revaluation of consolidated dollar-denominated loans and placements. Adjusting for these one-offs, its core net income for the year amounted to P16.8 billion, down 16 percent from a year ago.

In terms of income contribution to parent firm, Aboitiz Power’s share in earnings also dropped to P12.7 billion from P14.2 billion the previous year. When adjusted for non-recurring items, its earnings contribution dropped further by 16 percent to P12.9 billion.

Aboitiz Power is continuing to expand and setting aside P52 billion in capital expenditure this year.

Income contribution of banking arm Union Bank also declined by 21 percent to P3.2 billion in the absence of exceptional trading gain earned in the previous year.

On the other hand, the group’s food unit, Pilmico Foods Corp., posted a 4-percent earnings increase to P1.3 billion. The growth was propelled by the farm business whose net income soared 101 percent to P377 million, making up for the slack in earnings from flour and feeds.

Property unit Aboitiz Land posted a net income increase of 132 percent to P633 million. The company also breached the P3-billion revenue mark, up 86 percent from last year.