Ayala profit up 5% in Q1

MANILA, Philippines — Ayala Corp., the country’s oldest conglomerate, recorded a net income of P8 billion in the first quarter, five percent higher than the year ago on strong results of its real estate, banking and telco businesses.

Ayala president and COO Fernando Zobel de Ayala said the company is now reaping the benefits of a diversified portfolio.

“Our first-quarter results show the advantages of a diversified portfolio. The strong performance of Ayala Land, Globe, and BPI offset the challenges from Manila Water’s water supply issues and the market conditions facing AC Industrials,” Zobel said.

Ayala’s sustained earnings momentum was a result of healthy equity earnings contribution from its business units, which grew seven percent to reach P9.9 billion.

Equity earnings contributions of Globe, Ayala Land, and BPI grew 44 percent, 15 percent and five percent, respectively.

AC Education’s merger with iPeople, which amounted to P1 billion and which was completed recently, also boosted the first quarter results through net accounting gains.

Across the different business segments, Ayala Land sustained its double-digit growth with net income rising to P7.3 billion, driven by its property development and commercial leasing segments.

Its banking arm, Bank of the Philippine Islands, recorded a net income of P6.72 billion, up eight percent year-on-year on strong performance of its core banking business.

Globe Telecoms registered robust performance with a 44 percent surge in net income to P6.7 billion due to a strong subscriber usage in data-related services across mobile, corporate data and home broadband segments.

This was achieved through solid topline gains, which fully offset the higher depreciation expenses from Globe’s continued network expansion and acceleration of its LTE and broadband rollout.

On the other hand, Manila Water, the east zone water concessionaire, reported a 27 percent drop in net income to P1.2 billion due to higher operating expenses, which reflect the impact of the water shortage in the Manila Concession.

Power arm AC Energy recorded a net income of P2.5 million in the first quarter, down from the P593 million posted a year ago.