By Krista A. M. Montealegre, National Correspondent

DIVERSIFIED ENGINEERING conglomerate DMCI Holdings, Inc. saw its net profit increase by nearly a fifth in the third quarter, mostly riding on the strength of its coal mining and power business.

In a disclosure on Wednesday, the Consunji-led holding firm said it recorded an 18% growth in consolidated net income to P4.1 billion in the three-month period from P3.4 billion a year ago.

This pushed the nine-month consolidated net earnings to P11.7 billion, up 19% from P9.9 billion last year.

Without the extraordinary gain of P111 million from the sale of its 10% stake in Subic Water and Sewerage Co. last year, core net income from January to September would have increased by 20% year on year.

DMCI Holdings Chairman and President Isidro A. Consunji said in a briefing on Wednesday that a one-time depreciation cost and a regular shutdown of one the power plans of Semirara Mining and Power Corp. will temper profit growth in the fourth quarter.

“Earnings from our real estate business will also be weaker despite strong sales and reservation because we can only recognize revenues from projects once the collected payments reach our revenue recognition threshold,’” Mr. Consunji was quoted in a statement as saying.

DMCI Holdings’ growth was anchored on the 21% jump in the profit share of Semirara Mining and Power Corp. to P6.5 billion from P5.4 billion, buoyed by higher coal prices and energy sales.

Higher sales and reservations drove DMCI Homes’ net income to P2.7 billion, up 59% from the restated earnings of P1.7 billion for the January to September 2016 period.

The prior year results were restated to reflect the real estate firm’s shift in accounting policy from completed contract method to percentage of completion (POC) method. DMCI Homes shifted to the POC method in June 2017 to align with current accounting practice in the industry.

Net income contribution from construction arm D.M. Consunji, Inc. rose 16% to P851 million from P732 million, driven by the higher percentage of completion on ongoing projects and additional revenue from contract modifications.

DMCI Mining Corp. nearly doubled its net earnings to P117 million from P59 million after cutting its operating costs by more than half and shipping most of its old inventory.

The higher earnings of the four subsidiaries made up for the weakness of the off-grid energy business DMCI Power Corp. and affiliate Maynilad Water Services, Inc.

For its outlook next year, Mr. Consunji said growth “should be better than 2017,” but DMCI Holdings has to monitor the impact of rising interest rates and commodity prices as well as the depreciation of the peso on the company.

Shares in DMCI Holdings fell 22 centavos or 1.40% to close at P15.48 each on Wednesday.

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