Philippines News Archives

Saturday, February 24, 2001

AC ( 02/23/2001 : AFX )
Ayala Corp said it expects its subsidiaries Ayala Land Inc and the
Bank of the Philippine Islands to post better performance this year
amid a more favourable interest rate environment, BusinessWorld
reported quoting Ayala Corp strategic planning managing director
Rufino Luis Manotok. "We're expecting Ayala Land and BPI to post
better performance this year since interest rates are moving at
manageable levels and we sense that there is renewed interest in the
property business," Manotok said. Manotok said that with BPI, the
bank's income this year should be better after it has finished assuming
the costs related to its merger with Far East Bank and Trust Co. "We
don't need to extend help to these two companies because they're
very much independent and we're very optimistic that they can
improve profits in their independent operations," Manotok said. Earlier,
Ayala Corp it made a net profit of 3.15 B pesos last year, 38 pct lower
than the year-earlier 5.11 B. BPI reported a net profit of 3.05 B pesos
last year, 35 pct lower than the 4.7 B posted in 1999, while Ayala
Land's net profit last year fell to 1.8 B from 2.6 B the previous year.
- posted by StockMarket @ 12:49 AM

AC ( 02/23/2001 : BW )
The worst may be over for conglomerate Ayala Corp. after struggling
for one year of low profits. In an interview with BusinessWorld,
strategic planning managing director Rufino Luis Manotok said the
company expects this year will not be a repeat of the past year when
the group posted significant declines in net earnings for its major
subsidiaries. Analysts share the same view saying recovery for the
Ayala Group will happen without any effort. Local brokerage firm
ATR-Kim Eng Securities, Inc. is projecting Ayala's cumulative earnings
to hit 5.6 B Philippine pesos ($116.10 M at PhP48.234=$1) on recurring
basis from PhP4.5 B ($93.30 M) last year. "We're expecting Ayala
Land and BPI (Bank of Philippine Islands) to post better performance
this year since interest rates are moving at manageable levels and we
sense that there is renewed interest in the property business. For BPI,
last year's income was not reflective of the true situation. Income
should be higher this year without the one-time merger expenses," Mr.
Manotok said. Ayala Corp. reported lower profits for 2000 amounting
to PhP3.15 B, or a 38% drop from the previous year's PhP5.11 B. The
decline was largely due to earnings decline of major subsidiaries
Ayala Land, Inc. (ALI) and Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI). Net
income of ALI, the country's largest property developer,dropped by
28% to PhP1.8 B compared with the previous year. Banking arm BPI,
on the other hand, posted a 35% plunge in net income to PhP3.05 B.
ATR-Kim Eng analyst Dennis Du said this was essentially due to
expenses from the bank's merger with Far East Bank & Trust Co. This
year, Mr. Manotok said Ayala Corp.'s main revenue-drivers will
manage to recover without the help of the parent company. "We don't
need to extend help to these two companies because they're very
much independent and we're very optimistic that they can improve
profits in their independent operations," the Ayala Corp. official said.
Mr. Du said BPI will not be carrying the merger cost this year and this
would translate to PhP1.5 B upside in addition to other upsides from
operations. Despite the lingering glut in the property business, he
added that the first six weeks of the year was good for ALI owed to
the strong performance of its high-end projects, One Roxas Triangle
condominium and residential housing Montgomery Place.
- posted by StockMarket @ 12:48 AM

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