LT Group Inc. of tobacco and airline tycoon Lucio Tan said unaudited attributable net income in 2015 reached P6.6 billion, up 50 percent from P4.4 billion in 2014, on the strong contribution of its banking and tobacco businesses.
Philippine National Bank accounted for P3.51 billion or 53 percent of LG Group’s total income. Asia Brewery Inc. added P1.10 billion or 17 percent of the total, followed by the tobacco business at P1.04 billion or 16 percent.
Tanduay Distillers Inc. accounted for P422 million or 6 percent, while Eton Properties Philippines Inc. added P312 million or 5 percent.
LT Group said equity in net earnings from its stake in Victorias Milling Corp. contributed P214 million or 3 percent of the profits. LT Group’s stake in VMC as of end 2015 stood at 22.59 percent. With the purchase of additional shares in February 2016, LTG’s stake in VMC rose to 30.17 percent.
LT Group said its balance sheet remained strong, with the parent company’s cash balance at P2.6 billion as of the end of 2015. The debt-to-equity ratio stood at at 3.41:1 at the end of 2015 with the bank, and at 0.13:1 without the bank.
PNB reported a net income of P6.8 billion in 2015, up 15 percent from P5.9 billion in 2014. Net interest income increased 6 percent to P17.6 billion from P16.7 billion in 2014, while net service fees and commission income jumped 38 percent to P3.6 billion.
Trading and foreign exchange gains declined 34 percent to P1.8 billion, while other income was 35 percent lower at P3.7 billion.
The income of the tobacco business jumped to P1.04 billion in 2015 from just P148 million in 2014.
Equity in net earnings from a 49.6 percent stake in PMFTC reached P975 million, or 89 percent higher than P515 million realized in 2014. The illicit trade, however, continued to affect the overall profitability of the cigarette business.
ABI’s unaudited income in 2015, meanwhile, reached P1.099 billion, down 2 percent from P1.122 billion in 2014.
The Cobra energy drink, Absolute and Summit water, Tanduay Ice alcopop and Vitamilk soymilk remained the market leaders. Intense competition in the beverage market, though, affected volumes and margins.
Tanduay’s unaudited net income in 2015 surged to P422 million from just P101 million in 2014.
Revenues were relatively flat, as lower volumes were offset by price increases. Nielsen said Tanduay’s market share improved to 24 percent as of the end of 2015 from 22 percent at the end of 2014. Tanduay booked the market share gain from the Visayas and Mindanao areas.
Eton’s income also rose to P313 million from P120 million reported in 2014.
Revenues were 9 percent higher with higher lease rates for new or renewed contracts in office buildings. Eton plans to add a fifth business process outsourcing office tower at Eton Centris in Quezon City to increase its leasing portfolio.