LT Group, Inc., the listed holding company of tycoon Lucio Tan, said Thursday net income jumped 43 percent in 2019 to a record P23.12 billion from P16.19 billion in 2018.
LT Group said in a disclosure to the stock exchange the group’s tobacco business accounted for P15.50 billion or 67 percent of total attributable income.
Philippine National Bank contributed P5.57 billion or 24 percent, followed by Eton Properties Philippines Inc. which added P896 million, Tanduay Distillers Inc. with P667 million and Asia Brewery Inc. with P398 million.
The company’s 30.9-percent stake in Victorias Milling Company Inc. accounted for the remaining P251 million.
LT Group’s tobacco business reported a net income of P15.56 billion in 2019, up by 78 percent from P8.75 billion in 2018.
Equity in net earnings from LTG’s 49.6-percent stake in PMFTC was P15.40 billion, up 82 percent from 2018’s P8.46 billion. The higher income was attributed to the higher share of premium cigarette brand and the price increases implemented in late August 2019.
Volume, however, declined by 3 percent in 2019.
President Duterte signed Republic Act No. 11346 in July 2019 which increased further the excise tax on tobacco starting January 2020. From P35 per pack in 2019, it increased to P45 per pack in 2020.
PNB’s core income reached P9.51 billion in 2019, up 61 percent from P5.92 billion in 2018.
Net interest income rose 20 percent as loans and receivables grew by 12 percent and net interest margin also improved.
Property firm Eton reported a net income of P900 million in 2019, an increase of 88 percent from a year ago even as total revenues dipped by 2 percent.
Eton continued to expand its leasing portfolio with the opening of Eton WestEnd Square in Makati City in the second quarter of 2019. Its retail component, eWestMall, has two floors of retail spaces with a total leasable area of 3,600 square meters. The office component, eWestPod, has over 13,000 square meters of office space.
Eton Properties had a leasing portfolio of 181,000 square meters of office space and over 43,500 square meters of retail space as of end-2019.
Tanduay’s net income declined by 26 percent to P676 million last year on slightly lower margins from higher alcohol costs and higher interest expenses.
Revenues from liquor went up 3 percent on the back of a 2-percent increase in volume and an average price increase of P14 per case.