Strong second quarter failed to lift AEV January-June net income

The stronger second-quarter showing of Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc. (AEV) was not enough to lift its first-half earnings as nearly all its business units logged lower profits.

In a stock exchange filing on Friday, AEV said its net income in the January to June period tumbled by 27 percent to P8.4 billion.

While Aboitiz Power Corp., its main income driver, sold 9 percent more energy at 19,440 gigawatt-hours, lower spot market prices softened its impact on overall earnings.

AboitizPower settled with a P6.9-billion profit, down 24 percent.

Meanwhile, Union Bank of the Philippines added P1.6 billion to the group’s bottom line. This represented a 35-percent dive from the same period last year on the back of higher credit card costs.

There were also one-time costs logged related to UnionBank’s “enhancements” to its operational and financial resiliency.

Real estate under Aboitiz Land Inc. swung to a P51.8-million net loss from a P445-million profit. This was blamed on lower sales and higher forfeitures, reflecting the challenging property market.

The food and beverage segment grew its bottom line during the period by 31 percent to P3.6 billion as all divisions registered gains. Firms in this business include Aboitiz Foods Holdings Inc., Aboitiz Foods Pte. Ltd. and Coca-Cola Europacific Aboitiz Philippines Inc.

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Aboitiz InfraCapital Inc. (AIC), on the other hand, expanded its net loss to P477 million from P311.5 million. This was a result of the amortization of concession assets related to the full acquisition of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport.

Last month, AEV announced plans to sell a 40-percent stake in AIC to Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP). The latter is a unit of the fund management firm BlackRock.

AEV aims to partner with GIP and build an infrastructure powerhouse. It described the deal as “one of the most significant foreign equity investments in Philippine infrastructure in recent years.”

This was among the results of the private sector’s visit to Washington last month. Back then, President Marcos had his first official meeting with US President Donald Trump to negotiate for a lower tariff on Philippine goods bound for America.