Ayala sticks to full-year goal despite weak power, telecom results
Despite the weak performance of its energy and telecommunications units, Ayala Corp. maintained its growth targets for 2025 as its core businesses remained strong in the first semester.
Ayala president and CEO Cezar Consing said in a statement on Wednesday their full-year targets “remain achievable,” especially with the company’s portfolio businesses improving.
The country’s oldest conglomerate saw a 2-percent decline in its core earnings in the January to June period. This settled at P23.7 billion because of lower gains from ACEN Corp. and Globe Telecom Inc.
Ayala’s net income, which includes one-off items, climbed by 5 percent to P23.4 billion. This was attributed to higher impairments incurred in the same period last year.
Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) remained its main income driver. Its bottom line rose by 8 percent to P33 billion on strong loan growth.
BPI’s total revenues jumped 14 percent to P92.6 billion thanks to higher net interest income.
Total loans went up 14 percent to P2.4 trillion as the institutional and noninstitutional segments improved.
The real estate segment under Ayala Land Inc. saw its leap 8 percent to P14.2 billion. This was due to steady property development revenues, as well as higher gains from its leasing and hospitality business.
Property development revenues were flat at P52.3 billion. This was on the back of lower bookings in the core segment, which includes middle income brand Avida.
Meanwhile, commercial and industrial lot revenues swelled by 42 percent to P9.1 billion on robust sales at Arca South, Circuit Makati and Arillo.
Meanwhile, Globe Telecom Inc. logged an 11-percent decline in its core earnings to P10.4 billion. This was blamed on lower gross service revenues and higher depreciation and interest expenses.
Including nonrecurring gains from tower sale and leaseback, foreign exchange and market-to-market charges, Globe’s net income slipped by 14 percent to P12.4 billion.
Gross service revenues dipped by 2 percent to P80.2 billion on lower returns across its telecom and nontelecom segments.
Renewable energy subsidiary ACEN Corp. also recorded a 24-percent slide in its profit. This settled at P3.5 billion as damaged wind parks in Ilocos Norte dragged down its revenues.
Total attributable renewables output was up 9 percent to 3,228 gigawatt-hours. ACEN saw higher contributions from international assets.
As for its portfolio businesses, Ayala Healthcare Holdings Inc. (AC Health) was able to narrow its net loss to P100 million from P327 million. This was due to higher revenues from the provider group, which offset the weakness of its pharmaceutical segment.
Meanwhile, ACMobility’s net income ballooned by more than fivefold to P122 million. This was due to more contributions from electric vehicle brand BYD, as well as higher gains from Isuzu and Honda.
Total unit sales more than doubled to 20,020 from 9,178, according to Ayala.
AC Logistics also pared its losses by 18 percent to P631 million on the closure of its last mile business.
Integrated Micro-Electronics Inc., on the other hand, swung to a net profit of $7.6 million. This came from a net loss of $8.8 million in the same period last year, thanks to “greater operational efficiencies.”
