Conglomerate Ayala Corp. said Thursday net income expanded 20 percent in the first quarter to P6.9 billion from a year ago, driven by the robust results of banking and real estate businesses and solid earnings from emerging business in power and industrial technologies.
Equity earnings from its businesses climbed 18 percent year-on-year to P8.5 billion, led by contributions from Bank of the Philippine Islands and Ayala Land Inc., which expanded 27 percent and 18 percent, respectively.
Ayala’s emerging business posted higher equity earnings, particularly AC Energy and AC Industrials, which grew 26 percent and 22 percent, respectively.
The conglomerate said on a quarter-on-quarter basis, net income climbed 9 percent from the fourth quarter of 2016 on the back of the robust performance of its banking businesses.
“We are pleased to see our businesses sustain their positive performance in the first quarter. As a group, we continue to search for value-accretive opportunities not only to create new sources of a financial growth, but also to remain relevant to our stakeholders. As our emerging businesses maintain their growth trajectories, we are encouraged by the progress of our emerging businesses. In particular, our power, infrastructure, and industrial technologies units are pursuing strategic opportunities to scale up and over time bring significant value to our portfolio,” Ayala president and chief operating officer Fernando Zobel de Ayala said.
Ayala Corp. is the holding company of one of the oldest and largest business groups in the Philippines. The group has established leadership positions in real estate, financial services, telecommunications, water infrastructure, electronics manufacturing, and automotive distributorship and dealership.