MANILA, Philippines — Strong contributions from its banking and property businesses bolstered the earnings of SM Investments Corp. (SMIC) in the nine months ending September.
The investment holding company of the Sy family reported a nine-percent rise in net income to P60.9 billion from P55.9 billion in the first three quarters of 2023.
Revenues generated for the period rose by five percent to P462.5 billion from last year’s P 440.4 billion.
Banking accounted for the largest share of SMIC’s total income at 50 percent, followed by property at 27 percent.
Retail contributed 15 percent of the group’s net income, while portfolio investments pitched in eight percent.
“We continued to see good growth across our businesses in the third quarter, particularly in banking,” SMIC president and CEO Frederic DyBuncio said.
“With inflation easing, we remain positive. An improving macroeconomic environment should help both our businesses and consumers moving forward,” he said.
SMIC’s banking arm BDO Unibank Inc. registered a 12-percent increase in net profit to P60.6 billion, driven by the sustained contribution of its core intermediation and fee-based service businesses.
China Banking Corp., on its end, delivered a record high consolidated net income of P18.4 billion, up by 13 percent on the back of sustained strong growth from core businesses.
Net income of SMIC’s integrated property arm SM Prime grew by 12 percent to P33.9 billion from P30.1 billion as revenues climbed by eight percent to P99.8 billion.
SM Retail, meanwhile, saw a 6.6-percent decline in net income?to P12.8 billion from P13.7 billion last year.
However, retail revenues inched up by four percent to?P301.8 billion from P289.9 billion in the previous period.
The department store performance saw normalization of margins, which continued to be higher than pre-pandemic levels.
Food retail performance likewise remained positive due to better volumes and expansion, while specialty store performance was strong in discretionary categories such as health and beauty as well as fashion.
SMIC said that its portfolio investments also sustained its positive contribution to consolidated net income during the nine-month period.
Revenues of 2GO Group accelerated by 14 percent driven by increase in travels and the growing tourism industry, while that of Atlas Consolidated Mining and Development improved by seven percent due to higher copper and gold prices.