DMCI sees 10% earnings growth

MANILA, Philippines - Consunji-led DMCI Holdings Inc. said it sees its net earnings rising 10 percent this year from P9.59 billion in 2011.

 “Our performance will be better than last year. Barring unforeseen developments in China, net earnings should be less than P11 billion this year or a 10 percent growth,” DMCI president Isidro Consunji told reporters yesterday after the company’s annual stockholders meeting.

Consunji said the improved operations of its water distribution and real estate businesses would be enough to offset flat growth at its coal mining unit.

Global coal output has declined due to weaker demand in China and Europe. Further production cutbacks are expected in the near term as cheaper alternatives and cost and currency headwinds cause miners to struggle.

The mining business is the largest contributor to DMCI’s bottom line followed by water and real estate.

Consunji said the contract to build the 135-megawatt coal-fired power plant of South Luzon Thermal Energy Corp. ( a joint venture between the Ayala Group and Phinma’s Trans-Asia Oil) as well as the civil works for the expansion of the group’s Calaca power units, will provide DMCI with better revenues and earnings.

Consunji said the holding firm is gearing up to take part in the government’s Public-Private Partnership (PPP) program as it positions itself to be both a driver and a beneficiary of the country’s infrastructure progress. Construction unit D.M. Consunji will participate as a contractor given its engineering and technical expertise and experience, he said.

In the property segment, subsidiary DMCI Homes Inc. is rolling out eight new projects worth P15.5 billion this year to serve the largely underserved middle income market.

As the government is looking to revamp and improve revenue generation and policy implementation in the mining industry, DMCI is looking to expand its mining assets with plans to acquire a nickel mining firm.