GT Capital income steady at P10.9 B

GT Capital Holdings Inc., the investment arm of tycoon George Ty, reported a relatively flat net income in the nine months to September to P10.9 billion.

Revenues declined by five percent to P161.3 billion as a result of the slowdown in auto sales, GT Capital president Carmelo Maria Luza Bautista said in a briefing yesterday. Higher taxes affected auto sales. Aside from automative, GT Capital’s businesses include property, insurance, banking, and infrastructure through a strategic investment in Metro Pacific Investments Corp.

GT Capital chairman Arthur Ty said the economic environment is expected to improve next year.

“The country’s macroeconomic indicators as of the third quarter have shown some positive trends, suggesting that inflation may have already peaked. Oil prices have declined, foreign exchange rates have shown some strength, and food prices have stabilized. We believe that these factors, combined with the increased spending levels in the last quarter, provide a good backdrop for improved conditions in 2019,” Ty said.

The strong performance of the banking business offset the decline in auto sales.

“Our year-to-date results show the counterbalance between the soft auto sector volume sales mitigated by strong growth in financial services, property, and insurance segments. The consensus is that the decline in auto sales may have bottomed out as monthly volumes have stabilized. We are more optimistic for the coming year, anticipating a rebound in consumer confidence arising from a less volatile macroeconomic environment,” Bautista said.

Higher equity in net income of associates Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. (Metrobank), MPIC, AXA Philippines, Toyota Financial Services Philippines (TFS) and Sumisho Motor Finance Corp. (Sumisho) contributed to GT Capital’s financial performance.

Metrobank posted a net income of P16.8 billion, up 27 percent year on year, driven by the solid performance of the core business.

Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP), on the other hand, posted a net income of P6.6 billion, down 35 percent from the previous year. Revenues fell nine percent to P119.3 billion.

GT Capital’s property development subsidiaries, Federal Land Inc. and Property Company of Friends Inc. (PROFRIENDS) reported a combined net income of P2.3 billion, up 20 percent as revenues jumped 43 percent to P18.4 billion.

Insurance unit AXA Philippines, meanwhile, grew earnings by 21 percent to P2.14 billion.