Ayala profit grows 18% to P23.2 B in Jan-Sept

MANILA, Philippines — Ayala Corp.said its nine-month net income grew 18 percent to P23.2 billion, boosted by the strong performance of its real estate and power units.

Ayala’s other businesses are banking, property, telecommunications, healthcare and education among others.

In the third quarter alone, Ayala’s net income jumped 39 percent year-on-year to P8.2 billion, driven by robust earnings from Ayala Land, Bank of the Philippine Islands and AC Energy.

Telecommunications subsidiary Globe Telecom likewise realized gains from the investment of Ant Financial in its fintech unit Mynt, Ayala said.

Moreover, the income realized by AC Energy from services that enabled the financial close and construction of a power plant lifted Ayala’s net earnings in the third quarter.

Isolating these transaction gains, Ayala’s third quarter net income grew 26 percent from a year ago.

Ayala president and COO Fernando Zobel de Ayala said the conglomerate’s different business units posted strong growth.

“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 net income still expanded 18 percent from the previous year,” Zobel said.

Ayala’s balance sheet continues to be healthy to support its investments as well as meet debt and dividend obligations, the company said.

The conglomerate’s assets already breached the P1-trillion level  as of the end of September. Cash at the parent level stood at P29.7 billion, while net debt stood at P67.2 billion.

Ayala successfully issued recently $400 million senior perpetual bonds with an annual coupon rate of 5.125 percent with no reset nor step-up.