First Holdings income up 47% to P874M in Q1

First Philippine Holdings Corp. (FPHC), the energy unit of the Lopez-owned Benpres group of companies, posted a net income of P874.4 million in the first quarter of the year, up by 47 percent from P596.5 million in the same period last year largely due to gains from the sale of its stock investments.

In a financial report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, FPHC said it sold last January its 1.1 million preferred shares in SiRF Technology Holdings Inc., a supplier of semiconductor and software solutions based in San Jose, California.

The transaction generated for FPHC a gain of P228.7 million. Without this gain, the net income would have amounted to P645.8 million, or only eight percent higher than the previous level.

But based on its operations, the company’s revenues rose 16 percent to P9.6 billion while costs and expenses jumped 25 percent to P7.3 billion.

FPHC said its share in the net earnings of associates made a significant turnaround from the P93.9 million loss the previous year to a P139 million earnings this year. This was due to the improvement in the operations of the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) and Rockwell Land.

As of end-March this year, FPHC’s consolidated total assets reached P123 billion, or an increase of three percent from the P118.8 billion in the same period a year ago.

Investments and deposits declined by 24 percent to P17.1 billion due to charges relative to the Supreme Court decision on Meralco refund; the sale of FPHC and First Generation Holdings’ stake in Panay Power Corp., and the sale of SiRF shares.

In March 2004, however, FPHC bought back Balfour Beatty Group Ltd.’s 40 percent stake in First Philippine Balfour Beatty for $3.5 million. The purchase consideration is payable in two tranches inn 2004.

Total borrowings and obligations amounted to P84 billion, P17.3 billion or 21 percent of which was due within one year. Total liabilities is higher by P4.9 billion compared to the previous year.

Loans payable, on the other hand, decreased by 78 percent to P438.2 million as of March this year due to the settlement of First Philippine Infrastructure and Development Corp.’s loans obtained from a local bank.