Ayala sells P15 billion preferred shares

MANILA, Philippines — Ayala Corp., the country’s oldest conglomerate, sold P15 billion worth of preferred shares.

In a statement, Ayala Corp. said it sold 30 million preferred shares including the oversubscription option of 10 million shares at P500 per share.

The shares will be listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange today, Nov. 29.

Proceeds will be used for “general corporate purposes,” Ayala Corp. said.

The company nearly doubled its net income in the first nine months to P46.2 billion, lifted by the contribution of its banking, telecommunications, real estate, and power units.

Equity earnings from Ayala’s business units grew 77 percent to P51.9 billion, boosted by contributions coming from the Bank of the Philippine Islands, Ayala Land, and AC Energy.

Ayala recognized gains from the merger of AC Education with iPeople and from the partial divestment of AC Energy’s thermal assets, Ayala said.

All these cushioned the impact of weaker results of AC Industrials, which is experiencing headwinds from one of the sharpest and most widespread downturns in global manufacturing that significantly weighed on most of its business lines.

In the third quarter alone, Ayala’s net income expanded seven percent to P8.3 billion, supported by robust results from BPI and AC Energy. Equity earnings from Ayala’s business units, meanwhile, rose four percent to P10.2 billion.