MANILA – Aboitiz Equity Ventures (AEV) ended the year 2019 with a net income of PHP22 billion, slightly lower than the PHP22.2 billion recorded the previous year.
Power accounted for 57 percent of the total income contributions from AEV’s Strategic Business Units (SBUs) last year, followed by banking and financial services (30 percent), food (7 percent), land (4 percent), and infrastructure (2 percent).
Without one-off gains, AEV’s core net income for 2019 was PHP21.5 billion, 7 percent lower year-on-year (YoY) from PHP23.1 billion.
“Despite challenges in our power business last year, our portfolio was largely able to sustain its operational and bottom line performance, as better-performing businesses continued their positive trajectory,” Sabin Aboitiz, AEV President and Chief Executive Officer, said in a statement Tuesday.
Aboitiz Power Corporation’s net income contribution to AEV for 2019 decreased by 20 percent year-on-year to PHP13.3 billion from PHP16.7 billion.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) recorded for 2019 for the generation and retail electricity supply businesses was PHP36.2 billion, a 16-percent decrease year-on-year.
This was primarily due to the outages experienced by the company’s coal facilities and exacerbated by the need to purchase replacement power at higher spot market prices.
Replacement power was also purchased from the spot market as AboitizPower had contracted ahead in anticipation of Therma Visayas’ incoming capacity. Decreased spot market sales further eroded earnings.
Union Bank of the Philippines’ income contribution to AEV for 2019 doubled from PHP3.6 billion to PHP7.2 billion.
AEV’s non-listed food subsidiaries’ Pilmico Foods Corporation, Pilmico Animal Nutrition Corporation, and Pilmico International Pte. Ltd. income contribution to AEV amounted to PHP1.58 billion for 2019, 2 percent higher than the PHP1.56 billion recorded in the previous year.
For 2019, 48 percent of the Food Group’s total earnings were generated offshore, compared to the 15 percent recorded in the same period in 2018. Gains from the Food SBU’s overseas unit offset local declines.
AEV’s non-listed real estate businesses, comprising Aboitiz Land, Inc. and its subsidiaries, reported a consolidated net income of PHP943 million for 2019, a 46-percent increase from the PHP645 million recorded in 2018.
This was primarily due to fair valuation gains on investment properties recognized in 2019 which were not present in 2018.
For the Infrastructure group, Republic Cement & Building Materials, Inc.’s income contribution to AEV for 2019 amounted to PHP612 million, 187 percent higher than the PHP213 million recorded in 2018.
The conglomerate primarily attributed this to a slight increase in private sector demand for cement, the completion of several debottlenecking projects, and improved controls on production costs. (PR)
