Ayala Corp. income rises 18% to 323.2 B

First 9 months

Ayala Corporation sustained its earnings momentum in the first nine months of the year, with net income rising 18 percent to R23.2 billion – bolstered by the strong performance of its real estate unit and the continued ramp-up of its power business.

In the third quarter, Ayala’s net income jumped 39 percent year-on-year to R8.2 billion, driven by robust earnings from Ayala Land, Bank of the Philippine Islands, and AC Energy.

This was lifted by transaction gains realized by Globe Telecom from the investment of Ant Financial in its fintech unit Mynt.

Moreover, the income realized by AC Energy from services that enabled the financial close and construction of a power plant lifted Ayala’s net earnings in the third quarter.

Isolating these transaction gains, Ayala’s third quarter net income grew 26 percent from a year ago.

“Most of our business units have continued to achieve solid growth this year,” said Ayala President and Chief Operating Officer Fernando Zobel de Ayala said.

He added that, “we are pleased to note that even excluding the transaction gains from various strategic initiatives for the period, Ayala’s nine-month net income still expanded 18 percent from the previous year.”

The sustained performance of the residential segment, office-for-sale, and commercial leasing businesses drove the 18 percent growth in Ayala Land’s nine-month net income to R17.8 billion.

In banking, the sustained momentum of Bank of the Philippine Islands’ core banking and fee-based businesses cushioned the absence of significant gains from a capital exercise in the previous year. The bank posted R17 billion in net income in the first nine months, 1.9 percent lower year-on-year.

Manila Water’s nine-month net earnings ended flat from a year ago at R4.9 billion, as higher operating costs and expenses from expansion initiatives weighed down its topline growth.

AC Energy sustained its earnings momentum with net income surging 73 percent to R2 billion in the first nine months, primarily driven by the fresh contribution of its geothermal asset in Indonesia, boosted by services income derived from the financial close of a new power plant.