ABOITIZ Equity Ventures, Inc. (AEV) on Thursday reported that its net income plunged by nearly a half in the first quarter as the income share from its power arm declined.
In a stock exchange disclosure, the listed holding company said its net income declined by 42% to P2 billion in the period from P3.5 billion recorded in the same quarter in 2019.
The company saw non-recurring losses of ₱262 million in January-March period, lower compared to ₱334 million from the same period in 2019, “due to unrealized foreign exchange losses from the revaluation of dollar-denominated assets.”
Excluding this, the company’s core net income for the quarter is ₱2.3 billion. Meanwhile, it posted a 5% decrease in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) to P11.8 billion.
Power accounted for most of the listed firm’s total net income at 55%, followed by banking and financial services (46%), food (2%), infrastructure (1%), and real estate (-4%).
Aboitiz Power Corp. contributed P1.6 billion to the company’s income, 43% lower compared with the P2.8 billion it shared in the same period last year.
The energy firm also saw a 43% decrease in its net income to P2.1 billion from P3.6 billion in the previous year, dragged down by outages of its two power generation units, Therma South, Inc., and GNPower Mariveles Coal Plant Ltd. Co., and lower selling prices during the first three months of the year.
Its generation and retail businesses, which make up 65% of its income, earned P1.9 billion in the quarter, while its distribution estate saw an 8% increase in income to P1 billion.
UnionBank of the Philippines, Inc. saw its income share to AEV rise by 23% to P1.3 billion from P1.1 billion earlier.
This came as it reported a 22% increase in its net income to ₱2.6 billion in the quarter from ₱2.2 billion in the preceding year, attributed to revenue growth from its net interest income which grew by 47% to P6.8 billion.
AEV’s non-listed food units, Pilmico Foods Corp., Pilmico Animal Nutrition Corp., and Pilmico International Pte. Ltd., lowered their income contribution by 56% to P60 million from P137 million previously.
Gains from Pilmico International, which saw its net income grew by 116% to P297 million due to the expanded overseas investments of Gold Coin Management Holdings Ltd., were outweighed by a net loss from the other two subsidiaries.
Aboitiz Land, Inc. and other AEV real estate units reported a collective net loss of P110 million, higher compared to P44 million in losses in 2019.
Aboitiz Land chipped in P508 million in the holding firm’s revenues, lower by 24% from last year, as many of its construction projects were forfeited and the progress of on-going projects were slow following the eruption of Taal Volcano in January and the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) due to COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) since March.
Infrastructure unit Republic Cement & Building Materials, Inc. brought in P61 million to AEV, compared to P32 million in loss it recorded last year, lifted by the strong demand in January and February.
“The strong showing of our banking and financial services and food units have helped shore up our operational performance, underscoring the resilience provided by a diversified portfolio,” AEV President and Chief Executive Officer Sabin M. Aboitiz said in a statement.
“This same resilience will also help us face headwinds from COVID-19,” he added.
On Thursday, shares in AEV were unchanged at P41.50 each, while shares in AboitizPower were down 0.36% to P27.40 apiece and those of UnionBank were up by 0.65% to P53.90 each. — Adam J. Ang
