By Ana Olivia A. Tirona, Researcher
INVESTORS loaded up on Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Inc. (AEV) last week after its earnings more than tripled during the first three months of the year.
Data from the Philippine Stock Exchange showed a total of 10.33 million AEV shares were traded last week worth P365.17 million, making it the 19th most actively traded stock between April 26 and 30.
The Aboitiz’s holding firm closed at P35.50 per share on Friday, 2% higher than its closing price of P34.80 apiece on April 23. However, it has fallen by 24% since the start of the year.
AEV remained volatile last week after the company released its first-quarter earnings report, Timson Securities, Inc. Head of Online Trading Darren Blaine T. Pangan said in a Viber message on Friday.
“This caused market sentiment to somehow improve for the stock as reflected by the stock ending higher than last week’s closing price,” he added.
AEV’s consolidated net income soared by more than three times to P7.6 billion in the first quarter from P2 billion reported during the same period last year, its disclosure to the local bourse last April 28 showed.
“Fundamentally, almost all of its subsidiaries performed better at first quarter this year except for the feeds wherein it was dragged by input cost,” Diversified Securities, Inc. Aniceto K. Pangan said in a text message.
Broken down by its subsidiaries, Aboitiz Power Corp. accounted for more than half of the earnings during the January-March period, while UnionBank of the Philippines made up 29%. Its food, infrastructure, and real estate units contributed 8%, 4%, and 1%, respectively.
Meanwhile, AEV’s attributable net income dropped by 30% to P15.43 billion last year amid disruptions caused by the lockdowns to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
Diversified Securities’ Mr. Pangan expects better performance from AEV this year with an estimated triple-digit improvement, but it depends on how fast the country’s vaccine rollout will be.
“Any delay in the rollout will affect the economy which in return will affect companies,” he said.
“But that’s the problem — the situation is still fluid. That’s why I cannot give an exact analysis on how much it will improve [this year],” he added.
Last Wednesday, President Rodrigo R. Duterte announced a two-week extension up to May 14 of the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) in Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal.
For this week, Timson Securities’ Mr. Pangan expects AEV support and resistance levels at P34 and P37.30, respectively.
“The stock may continue to consolidate within this range until major catalysts affect our local investor sentiment dramatically,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mr. Pangan of Diversified Securities pegged the stock’s immediate support level at P34.20 and immediate resistance level of P37.20.
