Lucio Tan holding firm hikes Q1 profit to P3.8B

 Economy
May 212013
 

MANILA, Philippines – The investment holding firm of taipan Lucio Tan grew its profits to nearly P4 billion in the first quarter, driven by its banking and property units.

In a regulatory filing, LT Group said its net income climbed 36 percent to P3.8 billion.

Consolidated earnings surged 53 percent to P5.8 billion “on the back of the strong performance of the conglomerate’s banking and property segments,” the company said.

Revenues picked up 14 percent to P17.7 billion “due to higher revenues from banking, distilled spirits and property development, which offset the revenue drop in the beverage and tobacco sectors,” LT Group said.

Specifically, Philippine National Bank (PNB) doubled its profits to P3.7 billion in the first quarter from P1.8 billion a year ago. Revenues of PNB, which merged with Allied Bank to create the country’s fourth largest bank in February, jumped 22 percent to P10.3 billion.

Real estate unit Eton Properties Philippines Inc.’s profits surged to P127.5 million from P19 million last year as revenues almost doubled to P1.16 billion from P560 million.

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“The increase in revenues is mainly attributed to higher percentage of completion of Eton’s residential and condominium units as well as higher leasing revenues from commercial projects,” LT Group said.

LT Group sets dividend policy

 Economy
Jan 302013
 
LT Group sets dividend policy

MANILA, Philippines – LT Group Inc., the newly-consolidated flagship holding firm of tobacco, beer and airline magnate Lucio Tan, has set up a dividend policy promising shareholders potentially hefty returns for a profitable performance. In a disclosure to the local bourse, LT Group said its board of directors “approved the adoption of a dividend policy that provides for the company to declare dividends of approximately 20 percent to be paid out of the unrestricted retained earnings.” Unrestricted earnings represent available cash that can be handed out to stockholders as dividends. The distribution of such unrestricted retained earnings will not affect the financial strength and competitiveness of a company. LT Group said the dividend declaration depends on several consideration of the board of directors. Specifically, the board should decide on factors like “restriction of current and prospective financial covenants, current and prospective capital needs of planned projects and regulatory capital requirements of subsidiaries, among others,” LT Group said. LT Group serves as the umbrella company for Tan’s various businesses including Asia Brewery Inc., Fortune Tobacco Corp., Eton Properties Philippines Inc., Philippine Airlines, Air Philippines Corp., Philippine National Bank (PNB) and Allied Banking Corp. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The conglomerate is banking on good prospects this year, particularly due to the election season that will boost consumer spending. In the nine months to September last year, LT Group’s net income slightly fell to P2.5 billion from P3.08 billion a year earlier as net sales slipped to P18.9 Read More …