MANILA, Philippines — Ayala Corp., the country’s oldest conglomerate, reported a 79 percent decline in net income to P8 billion in the first half of the year, mainly due to the dampened economic activities as a result of the coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19 pandemic.
Net income of subsidiary Ayala Land decreased by 70 percent while Bank of the Philippine Islands’ profit also declined by 15 percent as it booked P15 billion in provisions for the potential adverse impact of COVID-19 to non-performing loans.
Globe Telecom likewise also saw its net income dip five percent to P11.5 billion because of higher depreciation expenses from continued network investments.
AC Energy reported a net income of P4.5 billion, down from its year-ago level of 23.2 billion, which included gains from the partial divestment of its thermal assets.
Ayala president and chief operating officer Fernando Zobel de Ayala, however, said the company is already seeing positive developments.
“While the health crisis has stifled the momentum of some of our businesses, we have started to see positive trends in the operations of BPI, Globe, and Ayala Land since the easing of quarantine restrictions in June,” Zobel said.
The crisis has also accelerated the country’s digital adoption, particularly in financial services.
“We are excited about the trajectory of our digital channels BPI Online and GCash, which have both experienced unprecedented growth over the past five months,” Zobel said.
Ayala chairman and chief executive officer Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala said their group has also taken advantage of the favorable debt market conditions to further solidify the company’s balance sheet in these challenging times.
The group’s different subsidiaries are expected to raise up to $3 billion from various domestic and international capital raising exercises.