Insurance unit is sole business to record earnings growth
GT CAPITAL Holdings, Inc. reported a net income of P489 million in the third quarter, slumping by about 94% from the P7.99 billion it reported a year earlier.
The Ty-led conglomerate continued seeing the effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in the July-to-September period, despite a 147% improvement in net income against the P198 million it recorded in the second quarter.
Core net income during the period also increased 71% to P574 million on a quarterly basis.
Year-to-date, GT Capital’s consolidated net income dropped 79% to P3.2 billion, while its core net income declined 69% to P3.7 billion. Revenues were likewise lower by 46% to P85.6 billion.
“While the July results showed early signs of recovery, the return to (a stricter quarantine) in August abruptly reversed the growth momentum,” GT Capital President Carmelo Maria Luza Bautista said in the statement.
In early August, the government implemented a two-week strict lockdown to heed the call of healthcare workers, who linked the rapidly increasing COVID-19 cases at the time to the relaxation of quarantine rules.
Nearly all of GT Capital’s business segments recorded lower income contributions for the nine-month period.
Banking unit Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. booked a net income of P11 billion, down by 49% from last year’s P21.6 billion. Its 20% revenue growth to P96.3 billion was weighed down by P35.4 billion in provisions for bad loans, which grew almost five times the P7.8 billion it set aside last year.
Toyota Motor Philippines saw a 71% income contraction to P2.2 billion, which is largely due to the 45% decline in car sales to 63,182 units against last year’s 114,117 units. Its revenues for the period fell 48% to P63.3 billion.
Property development arm Federal Land, Inc. posted a 78% profit drop to P172 million. Its revenues decreased 34% to P6.2 billion, mostly attributable to limitations in construction activity during the strict quarantine.
The operations of Metro Pacific Investments Corp., where GT Capital has a 15.55% stake in, generated 38% lower core net income at P7.7 billion.
Insurance unit Philippine AXA Life Insurance Corp. was the sole business to generate profit growth, with net income increasing 21% to P2.3 billion. It linked the improvement to a 43% rise in single premium sales, a 12% growth in renewal premiums and a 4% increase in revenues from protection and health insurance products.
“We are confident that with the flattening of the curve in new COVID-19 cases, and the re-opening of more sectors under the existing general community quarantine environment, the last quarter of 2020 will result in a strong finish for our group, paving the way for an even stronger recovery in 2021,” Mr. Bautista said.
Shares in GT Capital closed at P525 each on Monday, down P29 or 5.23% from the last session. — Denise A. Valdez
