Aboitiz Equity net slides 4% to P21.6B
By Jordeene Sheex Lagare – March 10, 2018
from The Manila Times
LISTED conglomerate Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Inc. (AEV) reported that its consolidated net income dropped 4 percent to P21.6 billion last year, from P22.5 billion in 2016, as one-off charges weighed on earnings.
But consolidated net income for the fourth quarter of 2017 climbed 6 percent to P5.7 billion from P5.4 billion in the same period in the preceding year.
In a disclosure, AEV said its power unit AboitizPower Corp. bolstered total income by 69 percent while Union Bank of the Philippines contributed 18 percent.
AEV’s bottom line got a lift from food subsidiaries Pilmico Foods Corp., Pilmico Animal Nutrition Corp., and Pilmico International Pte. Ltd. (7 percent); real estate segment AboitizLand Inc. (3 percent); and infrastructure unit Republic Cement and Building Materials, Inc. (3 percent).
The listed firm incurred non-recurring losses of P2.3 billion versus P347 million reported in 2016, primarily attributed to asset impairment and debt prepayment costs, which were partially reduced by a one-off recognition of lower interest expense from an acquired loan.
Excluding these one-off charges, core net income reached P23.9 billion, up by 5 percent from P22.8 billion.
Consolidated earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) climbed 18 percent to P57 billion from P48.1 billion.
AboitizPower recorded a net income of P20.4 billion in the previous year, 2 percent higher than P20 billion in 2016, bolstered by its generation business that registered a 19 percent year-over-year increase in its core net income.
Union Bank posted a net income of P8.4 billion, down 17 percent from P10.1 billon in the preceding year in the absence of one-off trading gains.
Net income of AEV’s food segments inched up 2 percent to P1.70 billion from P1.73 billion in 2016. Higher cost of raw materials and operating expenses prompted the drop in Feeds Philippines and Flour, while a higher than expected rise in live hogs’ selling price drove Farms’ decline, it said.
AboitizLand recorded a net income of P744.2 million, a 295 percent surge from 2016, on the “exceptional business performance of its units and recognized fair valuation gains on investment properties.”
Republic Cement and Building Materials, meanwhile, posted a 57 percent decrease in income contribution to AEV from P1.6 billion in 2016 to P671 million in 2017.
“While we faced challenges that tested the resilience of our portfolio, these results still showed the underlying strength of our core operating businesses, prompting our optimism on the long-term fundamentals of our businesses,” AEV President and Chief Executive Officer Erramon I. Aboitiz said in a statement.
Aboitiz added the listed firm is looking forward to supporting the Duterte administration’s “Build, Build, Build” program through their infrastructure initiatives.
AEV is the public holding company of the Aboitiz Group with major investments in power, banking and financial services, food, infrastructure, and land.
