Ayala Corp earnings down 19% in Q1

MANILA, Philippines — Ayala Corp., the country’s oldest conglomerate, reported a net income of P5.4 billion in the first quarter, down  19 percent from a year ago as core businesses posted declines.

Core earnings were also lower at P7.2 billion.

Ayala president and CEO Fernando Zobel de Ayala said the challenges and prospects brought about by the pandemic is an opportune time to recalibrate Ayala’s portfolio strategy.

Zobel said in the next three years, the company aims to sharpen its portfolio to optimize returns.

“We will place greater emphasis on portfolio strategy with a sharper focus on optimizing returns from existing businesses and a disciplined process on capital deployment. In parallel, we will actively explore opportunities for value realization to fund future investments,” Zobel said.

Ayala Land recorded a 36 percent net income decline to P2.8 billion due to the negative impact of the pandemic.

Banking arm BPI also posted an income drop of 22 percent to P5 billion during the period as a result of a one-time tax adjustment in connection with previously booked loan provisions following the retroactive implementation of the CREATE law.

However, Globe Telecoms and AC Energy posted double-digit net income growth during the period.

Globe’s net income increased 11 percent to P7.3 billion from the combined effect of higher gross service revenues, decline in non-operating charges and significant upside from the retroactive implementation of the CREATE law.

The energy business under AC Energy posted a net income growth of 24 percent to P2.4 billion, driven by higher earnings from both local and international businesses.

This excludes the significant increase in BPI’s loan loss provisions and one-off items such as the retroactive effect of the CREATE law and the additional re-measurement loss taken for Manila Water.