SMIC posts ₱9-billion profit in Q1
SM Investments Corporation (SMIC) reported that its first quarter net income declined 16 percent to ₱9.0 billion, partially reflecting the impact of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) and effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the firm said consolidated revenues rose to ₱111.2 billion from ₱109.0 billion in the first quarter last year.
Banks contributed 46 percent of net income, while property and retail added 44 percent and 10 percent, respectively. “The ECQ and broader pandemic started to weigh on our performance during the first quarter. Our strong balance sheet, capabilities and partnerships provide us with the flexibility to anticipate and adapt to changes in customer needs and behaviors,” SM President Frederic C. Dy Buncio said.
He added that, “We are actively enhancing digital and delivery services across all our core businesses, while also working to support and protect our employees, customers, MSMEs and business partners.”
During the crisis, SM implemented sanitation protocols in all of SM’s essential businesses. It also supported the medical equipment and supplies needs of hospitals nationwide and worked with the government and other partners to provide much needed quarantine and testing facilities.
Retail operations under SM Retail, Inc., which consist of both food (SM Markets, WalterMart and Alfamart) and non-food (THE SM STORE and Specialty Retail), posted revenues of ₱81.0 billion, up 3 percent from ₱79.0 billion in the previous year.
Net income stood at ₱1.2 billion, down 56 percent from ₱2.7 billion the previous year.
Revenues from SM Retail’s specialty retail stores stood at ₱16.5 billion, lower by 16 percent from ₱19.6 billion previously.
SM Prime Holdings recorded a consolidated net income of ₱8.3 billion in the first quarter of 2020, down by 5 percent compared with ₱8.8 billion in the first quarter of 2019. BDO Unibank posted ₱8.8 billion in net income in the first quarter from ₱9.8 billion previously while China Bank saw its net income increase by 19 percent to ₱2.2 billion in the first quarter, driven by sustained growth of its core businesses.