Ayala Corporation, the country’s oldest conglomerate, reported a 79 percent fall in net income to P7.9 billion in the first half of the year to lower earnings of its banking and property units.
In a disclosure, Ayala said the drop is a combined effect of Bank of the Philippine Island’s aggressive loan loss provisions in the second quarter, Ayala Land’s limited construction activities and mall operations, and the base effect of divestment gains in power and education booked in the same period last year.
ALI’s net income dropped 70 percent to P4.5 billion owing to lower project bookings, suspended construction activity, restricted mall operations, and the closure of resorts.
BPI’s net profits declined 15 percent to P11.7 billion in the first-half of year as it booked P15.0 billion in provisions for the potential adverse impact of COVID-19 to non-performing loans.
Globe’s net income dipped five percent to P11.5 billion because of higher depreciation expenses from continued network investments.
AC Energy posted a net income of P4.5 billion, a decline from its year-ago level of P23.2 billion, which included gains from the partial divestment of its thermal assets.
“Our group has taken advantage of the favorable debt market conditions to further solidify our balance sheet in these challenging times. Ayala Land, BPI, Globe, and Manila Water are expected to raise US$3 billion in combined proceeds from various domestic and international capital raising exercises”, Ayala Chairman and CEO Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala noted.
He noted that, “It is encouraging to see the strength of the Ayala brand translate to its continued ability to attract sizeable capital under the current environment.”
“While the health crisis has stifled the momentum of some of our businesses, we have started to see positive trends in the operations of BPI, Globe, and Ayala Land since the easing of quarantine restrictions in June,” said Ayala President and COO Fernando Zobel de Ayala. He added that, “The crisis has accelerated the country’s digital adoption, particularly in financial services. We are excited about the trajectory of our digital channels BPI Online and GCash, which have both experienced unprecedented growth over the past five months.”