Ayala Group earnings surge 62% to P27.8 billion

MANILA, Philippines — Ayala Corp. president and CEO Fernando Zobel de Ayala said the business environment continues to improve, but the conglomerate is monitoring the impact of Ukraine-Russia war, particularly on oil prices.

“We continue to see an improvement in the business environment with better mobility and ability of both enterprises and consumers to adjust to disruptions. With the recent de-escalation of quarantine measures to the lowest status, we are hopeful that 2022 will be the start of our country’s recovery,” Zobel said.

Ayala, the country’s oldest conglomerate, reported a net  income of P27.8 billion last year, up 62 percent, driven by the improved performance of the group’s banking and property arm.

However, excluding gains and other one-offs, Ayala’s core net income decreased by 10 percent to P23.5 billion, mainly driven by weaker net interest income in BPI, higher depreciation expense in Globe, and reduced stake in AC Energy following the completion of its capital market issuances and sale of secondary shares to GIC combined with higher financing cost taken up at the ACEN parent level.

Zobel  earlier said the Ayala Group is pouring in  P285 billion in combined capital expenditure and investments to “execute on the growth initiatives across our businesses.’’  This compares to P228 billion in 2021.

Ayala posted gains from executed transactions during the year, including the re-measurement of the company’s stake in Manila Water following the sale of secondary shares to Trident Water, the sale of the Ayala Group’s stake in GNPower Kauswagan, and the entry of a new investor in Mynt.

Among the different businesses, Ayala Land posted a net income of P12.2 billion, up by 40 percent on the account of resilient operations while BPI, the banking arm, grew its net income by 12 percent to P23.9 billion because of lower loan loss provisions and record-high fee income.

Telco giant Globe Telecom reported a net income of P23.7 billion, up 27 percent due to higher results from all data-related revenues, among others.

ACEN’s net income increased  by 22 percent to P5.3 billion as robust earnings from its international assets supported softness in Philippine operations.