Listed conglomerate Ayala Corp. said on Friday its net income slumped 19% to P5.4 billion in the first three months of 2021, as the pandemic continued to hurt its property business, while its banking unit’s profit fell due to a one-time tax adjustment.
In a regulatory filing on Friday, the company said its core net income declined by nine percent year on year to P7.2 billion, but improved 5% from the fourth quarter.
Core income did not include the “significant” increase in Bank of the Philippine Islands’ (BPI) loan loss provisions, as well as the retroactive effect of the law which cut the corporate income tax rate to 25%, and additional remeasurement loss for Manila Water Company.
Ayala Land, Inc. (ALI) saw its net income decline by 36% to P2.8 billion in the first quarter, as revenues slipped by 13% to P24.6 billion.
Property development revenues fell 6% to P16.2 billion, while commercial leasing revenues slumped by 41% to P5.1 billion as operations of malls, hotels and resorts remain restricted. Residential sales reservations jumped 15% to P28.5 billion, as ALI reported robust local demand.
ALI’s real estate investment trust AREIT, Inc. net income soared by 60% to P402.79 million in the first quarter from P251.82 million year on year driven by stable operations and contributions of its new acquisitions.
AREIT’s topline climbed to P679.72 million, 52% higher than last year’s P446.83-million revenues.
“This is driven by the quality and stability of our properties as well as the addition of new assets to our portfolio. Our focus is to ensure that our business operations are optimized and that the company is positioned for growth,” AREIT President and Chief Executive Officer Carol T. Mills said in a separate statement on Friday.
Meanwhile, BPI’s profit declined by 22% to P5 billion in the first three months of the year due to the effect of one-off tax adjustments from the effectivity of the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) law, which reduced the corporate income tax rates to 25% from 30%. BPI’s revenues declined by two percent to P24.3 billion.
Earnings of Globe Telecom, Inc. improved by 11% to P7.3 billion, “as the decline in non-operating charges fully offset the rise in depreciation expenses,” and the lower corporate income taxes. Excluding the impact of CREATE, Globe’s net income fell by 27% to P5 billion.
AC Energy Philippines, Inc.’s profits went up by 24% to P2.4 billion as earnings from businesses here and abroad rose.
Meanwhile, Manila Water’s net income went down by eight percent year on year to P1.3 billion due to lower billed volumes and supervision fees, as well as net foreign exchange gains.
AC Industrials meanwhile trimmed its net loss to P200 million from last year’s P564 million after its global manufacturing businesses and local automotive operations saw improvements.
“In the next three years, we aim to sharpen the components of our portfolio to optimize our returns and further strengthen our balance sheet. We will place greater emphasis on portfolio strategy with a sharper focus on optimizing returns from existing businesses and a disciplined process on capital deployment. In parallel, we will actively explore opportunities for value realization to fund future investments,” Ayala President and Chief Executive Officer Fernando Zobel de Ayala said in a statement.
Ayala shares at the local bourse lost P2 on Friday to close at P725. — K.C.G.Valmonte
