Lopez Holdings net income down 54% to P1.94 B in ‘13

MANILA, Philippines - Net income of the Lopez family’s investment firm went down by 54 percent last year on the absence of non-recurring earnings from an asset sale.

In a regulatory filing, Lopez Holdings Corp. said net income attributable to equity holders of the parent company declined to P1.94 billion last year from P4.29 billion in 2012.

“This was primarily due to the absence of one-off gains,” Lopez Holdings said.

In the first half of 2012, the investment firm pocketed P3.39 billion as it sold its 2.66-percent stake in Manila Electric Co. to Pangilinan-led Beacon Electric Asset Holdings Inc. It also recorded a gain on business combination following the listing of Rockwell Land Corp in May last year.

Consolidated revenues dropped six percent to P94.62 billion from P100.731 billion year-on-year as sales of electricity and merchandise fell eight percent and 61 percent, respectively.

In May, the San Lorenzo power plant’s main transformer was damaged by fire, prompting the company to suspend its operations until late last year.

“ABS-CBN reported strong revenues from both regular and election-advocacy advertising in 2013, which was a mid-term election year,” said Lopez Holdings president and chief operating officer Salvador G. Tirona.

“We expect stable operations from both First Philippine Holdings Corp. (FPHC) and ABS-CBN this year, before their investments in new ventures gain traction in 2015 to 2016,” Tirona added.

As of end-2013, Lopez Holdings owned 46 percent of power producer FPHC and a 56-percent economic interest in broadcast giant ABS-CBN.

Given recently-adopted Philippine Accounting Standards, Lopez Holdings said it has de-consolidated ABS-CBN and now consolidates FPHC.

Formerly Benpres Holdings Corp., the company was created in 1993 as the holding company for the Lopez family’s investments in major development sectors. It has since sold its interest in banking, toll roads, information technology, property development and health care delivery.