Telco, energy units drag Ayala earnings
The weaker performance of its telecommunications and energy units offset big gains from the banking and property businesses of Ayala Corp. in the first three months of the year.
Ayala said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday its net profit during the period had declined by 4 percent to P12.6 billion. Excluding one-off items, the core income of the country’s oldest conglomerate likewise went down by 4 percent to P11.3 billion.
“Our telco and energy businesses have some catching up to do,” Ayala president and CEO Cezar Consing said in their disclosure, referring to telco giant Globe Telecom Inc. and renewable energy firm ACEN Corp.
For its part, ACEN, whose bottom line fell by 28 percent to P2 billion on lower generation and weaker spot market prices, said it would focus on its pipeline projects this year to bounce back. It is aiming to operationalize around 800 megawatts of capacity across its portfolio.
Globe, meanwhile, cut its spending during the period by 38 percent to P8.5 billion to improve its balance sheet.
The company’s core net income slipped by 22 percent to P4.5 billion due to lower gross service revenues and higher financing costs, Ayala said.
Although gains from GCash parent firm Mynt provided a boost, Globe’s net income growth was also slower at 3 percent to P7 billion.
Meanwhile, gains from its acquired assets resulted in a 43-percent surge in the earnings of AREIT Inc. to P2.1 billion in the first quarter, with the company expecting to grow its assets fivefold.
