SMIC post P19.4 B profit in 9 months

MANILA, Philippines - The Sy-owned conglomerate SM Investments Corp. reported a seven percent growth in consolidated net income in the first nine months of the year to P19.4 billion, mainly driven by the continued expansion of all its core businesses.

Excluding extraordinary items, recurring net income grew 12 percent.

SMIC, which has businesses in retail, banking and property development, churned in revenues of P206.2 billion during the period, up seven percent year on year.

Harley Sy, president of SMIC, attributed the growth in income to the company’s continued expansion.

“Our strong results year-to-date reflect our ongoing focus on delivering footprint expansion across the country and on driving cost competitiveness in all our core businesses,” Sy said

By segment, SMIC’s banking businesses accounted for 40 percent of consolidated earnings while property and retail contributed 39 percent and 21 percent, respectively.

Retail operations under SM Retail Inc. sustained its growth with net earnings growing 21 percent to P4.6 billion on the back of a 6.5 percent rise in sales.

The growth was due to the addition of 20 new stores in both urban and rural communities in various parts of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

As of the end of September, SM Retail had 294 stores, comprising 51 The SM Stores, 41 SM Supermarkets, 43 SM Hypermarkets, 130 Savemore stores and 29 WalterMart stores.

For its banking business, BDO Unibank Inc. posted a net income of P17.6 billion, five percent higher than the previous year. Net interest income went up by 12 percent to P41.8 billion.

During the third quarter, BDO completed the acquisition of One Network Bank, the largest rural bank in Mindanao, adding over P20 billion to BDO’s total loans and deposits.