AEV Jan-Mar bottom line dove by 35%

Despite strong growth in the food business of Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc. (AEV), the weaker performance of its other units dragged first-quarter earnings.

In a stock exchange filing on Wednesday, AEV said its net income during the January to March period fell by 35 percent to P3.2 billion.

Aboitiz Power Corp., which accounted for 62 percent of the group’s bottom line, saw its earnings dive by 39 percent to P2.5 billion.

This was attributed to lower spot market prices and scheduled outages of its power plants. Total energy sold was also lower by 2 percent at 8,650 gigawatt-hours.

Financial services under Union Bank of the Philippines also contributed lower earnings to the group at P702.3 million, down by 28 percent.

This was due to tax-related costs associated with Union Digital Bank, as well as one-time expenses. Real estate under Aboitiz Land Inc., meanwhile, swung to a net loss of P58.3 million during the period. It was a reversal from a P280.3-million net income last year, due to lower sales and higher forfeitures.

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Aboitiz InfraCapital Inc. (AIC) also reported a net loss of P207 million, coming from a P71.8-million profit because of higher interest expenses.

AEV noted that this was a result of AIC’s increased debt availments for expansion.