Ayala Corp. posts 48% growth in 2023 net income

Ayala Corp., the country’s oldest conglomerate, on Wednesday reported a 48% increase in its core net income for the past year, as its banking, real estate, and energy businesses saw double-digit growth during the period.

AC said its core net income rose to P41 billion, while its net income, which accounted for one-off items, grew by 39% to P38.1 billion. Revenues stood at P341.897 billion.

Its banking unit Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) reported a 44% climb in its net income to P51.7 billion.

This was up 31% to P51.7 billion when including the one-off gain from the property sale in 2022.

Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) saw a 32% increase in its earnings to P24.5 billion, as property development revenues rose 14% to P92.3 billion and reservation sales climbed 9% to P113.9 billion.

The developer launched 25 projects valued at P75.9 billion in 2023, including P39.6 billion in the fourth quarter. Four new estates were launched during the period: Batangas Technopark and Arillo in Batangas, Southmont in Cavite, and Centrala in Pampanga.

ACEN saw its income from operating units nearly triple to P4.9 billion as it ramped up new operating capacity. Including one-off items, however, reported net income declined to P7.4 billion due to the P8.6-billion gain in 2022.

Its telecommunications unit Globe Telecom Inc. posted a 29% drop in net income to P24.6 billion, which it attributed to the one-time gain on the partial sale of its data center business in 2022.

“We succeeded in getting aggregate core earnings to exceed the pre-pandemic high,” AC president and chief executive officer Cezar Consing said in a regulatory filing.

“Now we focus on getting better operating and financial results from each of our businesses and on rationalizing the portfolio where it makes sense to do so,” he added.

The Ayala Group will lower its capital expenditure (capex) by 10% this year from the P264-billion program in 2023, with the bulk set to finance its maturing loans. — VBL, GMA Integrated News