Gotianun’s FDC sustains recovery with 57% earnings hike
Filinvest Development Corporation (FDC), the investment holding company of the Gotianun family, reported a 57 percent rise in attributable net income to ₱5.9 billion for the first nine months of 2023 from the ₱3.8 billion generated in the same period last year as it continues to recover from the impact of the pandemic.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), the firm said the growth was driven by a 26 percent increase in total revenues and other income to ₱64.6 billion in the period under review from ₱51.1 billion in the first nine months of 2022.
“The increase in revenues and other income by business segment were as follows: Banking, 37 percent; Real Estate, 14 percent; Power, 19 percent; Sugar, 25 percent; and Hospitality, 56 percent,” FDC said.
It added that, “the increases reflected mainly the continued recovery of the businesses over prior periods which were adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The level of total revenues and other income of the conglomerate in the first nine months of 2023 already surpassed the amount generated before the pandemic of ₱63 billion in the first nine months of 2019.
"We are pleased to report the strong performance of our portfolio with an impressive broad-based growth in revenues and profit across all our business segments in banking, real estate, hotels, power and sugar despite the challenges of high interest and inflation rates,” said FDC President and CEO Rhoda "Chiqui" A. Huang.
She noted that, “with enhanced business strategies and execution, and a resilient organization, we look forward to sustaining, if not accelerating, our growth in 2024 and the years ahead.”
Revenues from Eastwest Bank grew by 33 percent in the first nine months of 2023 or by ₱6.1 billion led by higher interest income and the build-up of high-yielding fixed income securities.
Real Estate’s overall revenues grew by 15 percent, driven by the growth of both residential and mall revenues. This led to a 22 percent growth in net income.
Revenues from Power grew strongly by 19 percent or by ₱1.8 billion due to the significant increase in electricity prices driven by the high prices of fuel while net income grew by one percent.
Hospitality revenues increased by 53 percent or by ₱698 million made possible by higher occupancy rates and average room rates across the seven hotel properties with the continued recovery of travel and tourism albeit mostly domestic.
The increase in room rates and revenues from food and beverage also led to the improvement in gross margins.
For this year, the Filinvest group has earmarked a total capital expenditure budget of ₱35 billion, of which about half is slated for the real estate and hospitality businesses.
The balance will go to investments in new ventures including renewables, water and other urban solutions.