Conglomerate Ayala Corp. said Friday net income rose 45 percent in the first quarter to P7.8 billion from a year ago, on the back of double-digit growth from banking, property, and telecommunications businesses.
Ayala said in a disclosure to the stock exchange first-quarter revenues climbed 9.6 percent to P65.97 billion from P60.18 billion in the same period last year.
“While the surge in infections at the start of the year delayed the expected full reopening of economic activity, the de-escalation of mobility restrictions in March are starting to be felt in our cyclical businesses in real estate and banking,” Ayala president and chief executive Fernando Zobel de Ayala said.
“This encouraging development enables us to continue pursuing our investment programs and deploying capital into various growth initiatives in the Ayala group,” he said.
Ayala Land Inc. and Bank of the Philippine Islands saw double-digit earnings growth in the period on improved mobility.
Ayala Land’s net income increased 14 percent to P3.2 billion in the first quarter, while BPI posted a profit of P8 billion, up 60 percent from a year ago on higher net interest income, lower loan loss provisions, and normalized tax expenses.
Globe Telecoms Inc. also delivered strong first-quarter results following the partial sale of its data center business. Net income surged 86 percent to P13.7 billion.
The higher earnings from these three core businesses cushioned the lower net income from power generation and water utility businesses.
AC Energy’s net income declined 68 percent to P405 million in the first quarter on higher costs of purchased power amid elevated spot market prices after the preventive maintenance outage of a power plant.
Manila Water Co. Inc.’s net income also decreased 29 percent to P925 million on higher cost and expenses and the effect of reduced stake following the sale of secondary shares to Enrique Razon-led Trident Water last year.
The conglomerate early this month announced plans to divest stake in its remaining thermal assets, interest in the LRT-1, and some of its other non-core businesses. The planned divestment is part of the group’s plan to raise $1 billion by 2023 to fund future investments.