More holding firms turn in positive results

FIVE MORE conglomerates reported favorable results on Friday, firming a generally positive picture of listed holding companies in the third quarter and the nine months to September.

AYALA CORP.
Ayala — whose share price rose 1.87% to finish P1,050 apiece on Friday — said in a statement that its net income went up by 39% year-on-year to ₱8.2 billion, “driven by robust earnings from Ayala Land, Inc… and AC Energy Holdings, Inc.” as well as Globe Telecom, Inc.’s transaction gains from its investment in Ant Financial Services Group via financial technology unit Mynt.

The third quarter pushed Ayala’s nine-month profit that went to controlling equity holders up 18% annually to P23.235 billion, fueled by a 22% rise in revenues to P201.531 billion.

Among the conglomerate’s units, nine-month profit of Ayala Land grew 18% to P17.8 billion; Bank of the Philippine Islands slipped by 1.9% to P17 billion in the “absence of significant one-off securities trading gains… realized in June 2016”; Globe increased by 11% to P13 billion; Manila Water Company, Inc. was flat at P4.9 billion as higher operating costs and expenses tempered the impact of a three percent rise in revenues to P13.8 billion; AC Energy surged 73% to P2 billion; while that of AC Industrial Technology Holdings, Inc. rose by five percent to P1 billion.

“Most of our business units have continued to achieve solid growth this year. We are pleased to note that even excluding the transaction gains from various strategic initiatives for the period, Ayala’s nine-month income still expanded 18% from the previous year,” Ayala President and Chief Operating Officer Fernando Zobel de Ayala said in the statement.

SAN MIGUEL CORP.
San Miguel — which did not disclose third-quarter results and whose stock price dropped 1.71% to P115 each — reported a 21% hike in consolidated recurring net income (excluding the impact of foreign exchange transactions and one-time gain from the sale of its telecommunications business last year) to P43.8 billion in the nine months to September.

Revenues rose by a fifth annually to P597 billion in the same period “on higher sales mainly from its core food, beverage and packaging business”, while consolidated operating income grew 13% to P82.8 billion.

The food and beverage segment — consisting of San Miguel Brewery, Inc.; Ginebra San Miguel, Inc. and San Miguel Purefoods Company, Inc. that are now the subject of consolidation into one holding company — accounted for over third of the conglomerate’s revenues in those nine months at P180 billion, up 11% year-on-year.

Strong sales volumes of Petron Corp.’s local and Malaysian operations fueled a 27% rise in consolidated revenues to P313.5 billion and a 31% hike in operating income to P22.1 billion that led to a 58% year-on-year increase in profits to P11.8 billion.

San Miguel’s packaging business under San Miguel Yamamura Packaging Group posted 13% growth in terms of both revenues and operating income to P22.4 billion and P2.2 billion, respectively. The conglomerate has been ramping up its presence in Australia, most recently with the acquisition of 100% of the issued capital of Best Bottlers Pty. Ltd.

GT CAPITAL HOLDINGS, INC.
GT Capital — whose share price shed 0.75% to finish P1,194 apiece — saw profit that went to controlling shareholders increase by 12% to P3.58 billion in the nine months to September and core net income increase by 19% to P11 billion, fueled by a 16% increase in consolidated revenues to P169.5 billion.

“Our core businesses continue to deliver steady growth across all sectors,” GT Capital President Carmelo Maria Luza Bautista was quoted as saying in a statement that cited contributions from Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. (TMP), Toyota Manila Bay Corp., as well as higher equity in net incomes of associates AXA Philippines and Metro Pacific Investments Corp.

“Based on the strong macroeconomic fundamentals, we remain optimistic that the positive momentum will be sustained for the remaining months of 2017.”

Under GT Capital, Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. (Metrobank) saw unaudited consolidated net income grow five percent year-on-year to P13.2 billion, TMP reported P9.9 billion in consolidated net income as consolidated revenues grew 14% to P130.7 billion, while property units Federal Land, Inc. and Property Company of Friends, Inc. (PRO-FRIENDS) saw an aggregate net income of P1.9 billion as combined consolidated revenues increased by 13% to P12.9 billion and combined real estate sales grew 16% to P10.9 billion.

Metrobank and TMP together accounted for 71% of the parent’s profit in that period.

AXA Philippines grew net income by 31% to P1.3 billion as total sales in annualized premium equivalent rose by 26% to P4.7 billion.

Metro Pacific had reported last Nov. 8 a 22% rise in consolidated core net income to P11.3 billion in the nine months to September on expanded presence in the power industry.

LT GROUP, INC.
LT Group — whose stock price ended Friday flat at P17.40 each — saw a 36% hike in profit that went to controlling shareholders to P2.3 billion in the third quarter, fueling a nine percent increase to P6.83 billion as of September on the back of its tobacco business that accounted for 42%, at P2.87 billion, of total attributable profit in those nine months.

The tobacco business — under PMFTC, Inc. — saw income rise 60% to P2.88 billion in the nine months to September.

Philippine National Bank — whose share price edged up by 0.78% to end P58.50 apiece — saw net income fall by 22% to P4.64 billion mainly due to lower gains from the sale of real and other properties acquired (ROPA) at P518 million, compared to the P2.3 billion booked in 2016’s comparable nine months. Net interest income increased by 10% to P16.16 billion on the back of a 22% rise in loans and receivables, while net service fees and commission income grew 18% to P2.36 billion due to higher deposit- and trade-related, arranger’s, bancassurance and underwriting fees.

Asia Brewery, Inc.’s net earnings sank by 49% to P455 million “primarily due to higher spending on new products”, with revenues rising 12% to P10.11 billion “with the higher contribution of bottled water and soy milk”.

Tanduay Distillers, Inc. saw net income fall by 35% to P438 million even as liquor revenues grew 22% to P10.91 billion. Revenues from ethanol were 24% lower at P1.44 billion as higher alcohol costs ate into margins.

Eton Properties Philippines, Inc.’s P246-million net income as of September was slightly less than the P249 million recorded in 2016’s comparable nine months, as revenues sank by a fourth to P1.66 billion “with lower sales due to the change in strategy to focus on increasing its recurring income base”. Revenues from leasing operations were 10% higher at P1.03 billion with the opening of 2,100 square meters of additional retail space in Eton Tower Makati and higher lease rates.

FILINVEST DEVELOPMENT CORP.
Finally, FDC — whose stock price edged up by 0.65% to end P7.75 apiece — reported a 33% year-on-year hike in net income attributable to controlling shareholders to P1.44 billion in the third quarter, as revenues grew 22.8% to P15.97 billion.

That brought FDC’s nine-month earnings attributable to the parent to P4.81 billion, 17% higher year-on-year, on the back of revenues of P48.39 billion.

East West Banking Corp. — whose share price dipped 0.16% to P32.15 apiece — saw year-to-date net income grow 60% to P3.7 billion as recurring earnings increased by a fourth to P18 billion on the back of a 22% hike in net interest income and 30% increment in fee-based income.

Property subsidiary Filinvest Land, Inc. grew net income by seven percent year-on-year to P3.7 billion in the nine months to September on the back of a seven percent hike in revenues to P14.5 billion. Rental revenues alone increased by 31% to P3.2 billion “as the company booked additional revenues from its new office and retail buildings”. — A. B. Francia