By Neil
Jerome C. Morales (The Philippine Star) | Updated July 13, 2013 - 12:00am
MANILA,
Philippines - Two blue chip companies have indicated strong performance in the
first half of the year on the back of the continued growth in consumer
spending, top executives said.
SM
Investments Corp. (SMIC), the holding firm for the various businesses of the
Philippines’ richest man Henry Sy, likely grew its profits by double digits in
the first half while property giant Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) gained the same
momentum it recorded in the first quarter.
SMIC chief
finance officer Jose T. Sio told reporters that the conglomerate’s bottom line
likely jumped “14 to 15 percent for the first half.”
“Normally,
second quarter is slower but we were able to maintain that growth in the first
quarter because of the elections,” Sio said.
The
preliminary data keeps SMIC on track with its growth projections. In its
2013-2015 plan, SMIC targets to boost its profits 12-15 percent annually that
will be supported the company’s continuous expansion.
In the first
quarter, SMCI’s net income climbed 22 percent to P7.4 billion while revenues
rose 15 percent to P56.8 billion from P49.6 billion a year ago.
The uptick in
earnings was driven by the surge in income of SMIC’s banking business, coupled
with strong profit growth from the mall and property businesses.
For ALI chief
finance officer Jaime Ysmael, the property firm of the Ayala conglomerate
recorded higher profits in the second quarter.
“The numbers
continue to be good and consistent with what we’ve seen in the first quarter,”
Ysmael said.
“Our numbers
continue to be strong in the residential, malls and office,” he said.
In the first
quarter, ALI’s net income climbed 30 percent to P2.76 billion from P2.13
billion a year ago on the back of better performance across all business
segments.
Consolidated
revenues hit P18.53 billion, up 38 percent from the P13.39 billion in the same
period last year.
The two
corporate giants are optimistic for the second half of the year.
Sio said: “We
expect that [growth trajectory] will be maintained in the final six months of
the year.”
He said
consumer spending remains strong especially given the weakness of the peso.
A weaker peso
increases the value of dollar export earnings and remittances from overseas
Filipinos. This jacks up the spending power of families that receive dollars.
“A weaker
peso, but not so weak, is also good for the whole economy. It is good for
overseas Filipino workers, exports and our financing also,” Sio said.
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