Ayala sees economic revival by mid-2023

MANILA, Philippines — Ayala Corp., the country’s oldest conglomerate, sees the economy going back to 2019 levels or prior to the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic by mid-2023.

“The Ayala Group feels positive about our medium term trajectory and anticipates economic revival mid-2023 back to the levels of 2019,” Ayala chairman Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala said during the company’s virtual  annual stockholders meeting yesterday.

Last year, Ayala Corp. posted a 51 percent decline in net income to P17.1 billion while core net income was down 16 percent to P26 billion. In 2019, its net income grew 11 percent to P35.3 billion.

Zobel formally stepped down as CEO of the conglomerate after 26 years as chairman and CEO, passing on the baton to his younger brother Fernando who was previously COO.

The COO role, meanwhile, remains vacant.

Ayala’s businesses include property through Ayala Land, banking through BPI, telecoms through Globe Telecom, energy through AC Energy,  infrastructure through AC Infrastructure, healthcare through AC Health and manufacturing through AC Industrial.

“As incoming president and CEO, I aim to build on the firm foundation that Jaime established, guided by our core strategy of maintaining leadership and relevance in the markets we serve,” Fernando said.

“We will fully support the continued expansion of core drivers Ayala Land, BPI and AC Energy and scale up healthcare, education and logistics and we will be proactive in recycling capital,” Fernando said.

The  Ayala Group is allocating a combined capex of P196 billion for this year.

“We are cautiously optimistic about the business environment and will continue to prepare for a postpandemic economic recovery. We are hoping for a successful implementation of the country’s vaccination program that will pave the way for a revival of the economy.

Since 1995, our market capitalization has expanded more than sixfold; our net income similarly grew more than six times. Since 1995, we rewarded our shareholders with dependable returns that averaged at 15 percent per annum. Over that period, we cumulatively paid P118 billion in dividends to our common shareholders,” Fernando said.