Conglomerate SM Investments Corp. said Wednesday net income rose 5 percent in the first quarter to P9.5 billion from P9 billion in the same period last year despite lower revenues.
SM Investments said in a disclosure to the stock exchange consolidated revenues declined 13 percent in the first quarter to P96.9 billion from P111.2 billion a year ago.
The group’s banking unit accounted for 54 percent of first-quarter net earnings, followed by the property at 33 percent and retail at 13 percent.
“As our businesses adapt to a challenging operating environment and broader economic uncertainties, we continue to innovate and find new ways to service our customers’ needs. We have reduced our operating costs and are benefiting from the high levels of cost efficiency that we focused on during the last twelve months,” SM Investments president and chief executive Frederic DyBuncio said.
“We continue to invest in the well-being of our employees with our upcoming free vaccination initiative and provide critical support to our business partners, who are mostly small and medium enterprises. We strongly support health recovery efforts and remain optimistic about a strong recovery in due course,” DyBuncio said.
SM Retail reported a net income of P1.6 billion in the first quarter, boosted by cost reductions. Revenues were down by 14 percent to P70 billion.
Property unit SM Prime posted a net income of P6.5 billion in the first quarter and P20.8 billion in consolidated revenues.
SM Prime’s mall business reported P5.9 billion in revenues in the first three months, up 10 percent from the previous quarter’s P5.3 billion while residential group posted a 5-percent increase in revenues to P11.9 billion from P11.4 billion.
BDO Unibank Inc. also declared a net income of P10.4 billion in the first quarter, up 19 percent from a year ago on the robust performance of service fee businesses that compensated for the weak demand for loans.
China Banking Corp. also sustained its profitability in the first quarter, posting a 61-percent increase in net income to P3.6 billion.
