Ayala Corp. reports 35% rise in net profit to 14.1B in 9 months

Ayala Corporation reported yesterday a 35 percent jump in consolidated net income to 14.1 billion during the first nine months of the year as its core businesses produced solid results.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Ayala said healthy performance by Ayala Land, Inc. (Ayala Land), Globe Telecom and Manila Water Company (Manila Water) helped compensate lower earnings from the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), which had generated substantial gains from securities trading during the prior year.

Without the effect of accelerated depreciation from Globe Telecom’s network transformation initiative during the previous year, Ayala’s core net income grew 15 percent.

Consolidated revenues increased by 17 percent to 134.5 billion. Sale of goods and rendering of services comprised 85 percent of consolidated revenues, totaling 114.5 billion and expanding by 15 percent year- on- year.

Robust performance across all business segments by Ayala Land, continued improvement in revenues from Manila Water due to higher billed volume, rising revenues from Integrated Microelectronics, Inc. (IMI), and the

1.8 billion net divestment gain from Stream Global Services, Inc. were all significant contributors to the expansion in consolidated revenues.

Share of profit of associates and joint ventures amounted to 10.3 billion, which reflects a rise of 26 percent from the previous year.

The increase is attributed principally to the higher equity in net earnings from Globe due to lower depreciation charges, with elevated share in income of ALI and AIVPL from their associates also contributing to improved performance.

Interest income grew by 98 percent to 4.2 billion. Ayala Land, AYC Finance Limited (AYCFL) and AC International Finance Limited (ACIFL) contributed significantly to this increase due to their higher cash balances.

Other income for the first nine months of the year amounted to 5.5 billion, up 5% from the previous year. LiveIt’s 1.8 billion gain from its divestment of Stream recognized earlier during the year drove the increase, although it was partially offset by decreased rehabilitation work by Manila Water. (JAL)