Ayala Corp H1 profit up 23% on strong core businesses

MANILA, Philippines – Earnings of Ayala Corp, the country’s oldest conglomerate, rose 23% in the first 6 months of 2012 from a year ago to P6.1 billion, on higher contributions from its core businesses.

The company’s core net income, however, went up by a faster 35% to P6.3 billion as this excluded extraordinary items such as the “accelerated depreciation” of its telecom unit.

Ayala said its growth was driven by the strong performance of its main real estate (Ayala Land), banking (Bank of the Philippine Islands) and water distribution (Manila Water) subsidiaries.

Ayala Land posted a 28% jump in net income to P4.3 billion, thanks mainly to strong residential sales.

Bank of the Philippine Islands saw a 52% rise in net income to P9.4 billion, while Manila Water enjoyed a 31% growth to P2.6 billion.

Meanwhile, earnings of telecom unit, Globe Telecom, fell 10% to P4.9 billion due to higher operating expenses and faster depreciation arising from its network modernization program.

The financial results of other units in the electronics manufacturing (Integrated Microelectronics) and business process outsourcing (LiveIt) sectors were mixed.

Integrated Microelectronics recorded earnings of $3.1 million, up 173% year-on-year, while LiveIt posted a net loss, according to Ayala. – Rappler.com