LT Group Inc., the holding firm of most businesses of tycoon Lucio Tan, on Tuesday said its attributable net income in the first quarter grew 4 percent to P6.49 billion from last year’s P6.21 billion.
Lender Philippine National Bank contributed P1.02 billion or 16 percent of total attributable net income. The tobacco business accounted for P5.01 billion or 77 percent of total, liquor maker Tanduay Distillers Inc. added P233 million or 4 percent, Asia Brewery Inc. contributed P211 million or 3 percent, Eton Properties Philippines Inc. accounted for P149 million or 2 percent, while the 30.9 percent stake in Victorias Milling Co. Inc. added P66 million or 1 percent.
Net expenses at the parent level amounted to P198 million, the company said. PNB’s net income under the pooling method was P1.83 billion in the first quarter, 33 percent or P455 million higher than last year, primarily due to lower provisions for credit losses for the period at P2.1 billion from P3.36 billion last year.
The tobacco business under PMFTC Inc. had a net income of P5.03 billion, a mere P24 million more than last year’s P5.01 billion.
“The industry’s volume was estimated at 13.1 billion sticks in the first quarter of 2021, 14 percent lower than the first quarter 2020 of 15.3 billion sticks. This is due to the October to November 2020 price increases to pass on the additional excise taxes,” the company said, adding that illicit activities have also been rising, which include smuggled and locally produced products.
Tanduay’s net income for the period grew 18 percent to P235 million from last year’s P199 million. The higher income is largely due to the 5-percent increase in the volume of liquor sales and higher rectified alcohol sales, the company said.
As of end-March, Tanduay’s nationwide market share for distilled spirits was at 26.5 percent, down from March 2020’s 27.7 percent.
In the Visayas and Mindanao regions where most of its sales are generated, market share was at 70.1 percent and 76 percent, respectively, as of March 2021, compared to 67 percent and 75 percent, respectively, as of March 2020.
Asia Brewery’s net income more than doubled to P211 million from last year’s P137 million, largely due to the absence of losses from the AB Heineken joint venture as the partnership transitions starting 2021 to the engagement of the company to brew and distribute Heineken and Tiger beers in the Philippines.
Revenues fell 13 percent due to lower volume of bottled water and soymilk, including Vitamilk which have a market share of 69 percent. Bottled water brands, Absolute and Summit, continue to have the second largest share in this segment at 23 percent.
Eton’s net income for the first quarter fell 11 percent to P150 million from the previous year’s P169 million due to the decline in residential unit sales and lower leasing income.
Eton currently has a leasing portfolio of around 181,000 square meters of office space and over 45,000 square meters of retail space.
Read full article on BusinessMirror
