Ayala Corp earns 20% more in Q1

MANILA, Philippines - Ayala Corp., the country’s oldest conglomerate, posted a 20 percent growth in its first quarter profit to P6.9 billion on the back of strong banking and real estate businesses.

On a quarter-on-quarter basis, Ayala’s net income climbed nine percent from the fourth quarter of 2016, driven by the robust performance of its banking business.

Ayala president and COO Fernando Zobel de Ayala said the company continues to search for value-accretive opportunities not only to create new sources of financial growth but also to remain relevant to its stakeholders.

“As our core businesses maintain their growth trajectories, we are encouraged by the progress of our emerging businesses. In particular, our power, infrastructure, and industrial technologies units are pursuing strategic opportunities to scale up and over time bring significant value to our portfolio,” he said.

Ayala’s core businesses are Ayala Land, Bank of the Philippine Islands, Globe Telecom, Manila Water and IMI while new businesses launched in recent years include AC Energy, AC Infra, AC Education, AC Industrials and AC Automotive.

BPI reported a 26 percent increase in net income to 6.3 billion buoyed by the performance of its core lending business.

ALI posted a net income of P5.6 billion, 18 percent higher year-on-year on the continued expansion of its property development and commercial leasing businesses.

Globe Telecom, meanwhile, reported that topline growth improved four percent to P31 billion as mobile data revenues climbed eight percent to P10 billion, with this segment now representing 42 percent of total mobile revenues.

On the other hand, Manila Water reported a two percent drop in net earnings to P1.4 billion due to higher costs from new investments and expansion initiatives.

AC Industrials recorded a net income of 332 million, up 22 percent from the previous year owing to the robust performance of both its electronics manufacturing and automotive retail businesses.

Solid topline growth and better gross profit margins lifted IMI’s net income, which expanded 33 percent to $8.7 million of P434.1 million.

AC Energy registered a 25 percent growth in net income to P313.7 million, which was achieved despite the annual maintenance for AC Energy’s conventional energy assets, South Luzon Thermal Energy Corp. and GNPower Mariveles, which was scheduled during the period.

Meanwhile, AC Infrastructure reported a net income of P9 million.