Ty-led GT Capital’s profit up 51%; bank unit leads

By Justine Irish D. Tabile

TY-LED GT Capital Holdings, Inc. posted a 51.3% increase in its attributable net income to P3.94 billion in the second quarter from P2.60 billion last year, with its banking segment driving the growth.

The latest profit figure is also 0.5% better than its recorded pre-pandemic second-quarter income of P3.92 billion.

“Given the gradual return to normalcy, greater mobility, resurgent consumption, and the new administration’s pronouncements in support of sustained economic growth policies, we are confident that our Group will fare very well for the rest of the year,” GT Capital President Carmelo Maria Luza Bautista said in a media release on Tuesday.

GT Capital’s topline rose by 42.6% to P57.5 billion in the second quarter from P40.31 billion in the previous year.

In the first half, the holding firm’s attributable net income rose to P8.30 billion, 24.4% higher than the P6.67 billion registered last year. Total revenues grew to P112.79 billion, a 31.7% increase from last year’s P85.66 billion.

Banking arm Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. (Metrobank) posted a 33% higher income at P15.6 billion in the first half. Its gross loans rose by 9% year on year to P1.3 trillion, driven by a 12% growth in corporate and commercial lending and a 16% increase in gross credit card receivables.

“The continued improvement in the bank’s performance cements our strategy as we enable various customers and businesses as economic activities accelerate. This also validates the recent recognitions we received from pres-tigious publications, naming us the country’s best bank,” Metrobank President Fabian S. Dee said in the press release.

Metrobank’s asset quality was said to have improved, which allowed trimming of its provisions by 46% while its non-performing loan (NPL) cover was at 196%.

AP Securities, Inc. Equity Research Analyst Carlos Angelo O. Temporal said in a Viber message that GT Capital’s second-quarter earnings had outperformed expectations on the back of Metrobank’s stronger-than-expected per-formance after its robust loan growth and lower provisions.

“Significant drop in NPL ratio has allowed the company to reduce provisions to nearly half of [last year’s first semester] figure,” Mr. Temporal said.

Separately, Unicapital Securities, Inc. Equity Research Analyst Ralph Jonathan B. Fausto said in a Viber message that GT Capital “delivered very robust results in the first half of 2022 with its cyclical core segments benefitting from the general economic reopening in the second quarter due to the eased Alert Level 1 restrictions.”

“[Metrobank] registered a 9% [year-on-year] increase in its gross loans and NPL ratio improvement, both reflecting improving business and consumer confidence,” Mr. Fausto said.

Mr. Temporal said the bank was able to make up for the “muted performance of its auto segment, which endured a sharp decline in margins quarter on quarter due to a weaker peso and additional costs incurred during recent launches of new car models.

Automobile segment Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. (TMP) posted a 2.9% decrease in its consolidated net income in the first half to P3.4 billion from P3.5 billion last year.

Its topline showed a 33.4% growth in the first semester to P85 billion from the P63.7 billion recorded in the previous year.

GT Capital Auto and Mobility Holdings, Inc. Chairman Vince S. Socco said: “Despite the higher inflation and foreign exchange volatility, TMP delivered strong results in the first half and has continued to outpace the industry.”

“With the continuing economic recovery, higher mobility, and the return to normalcy, we are on track to achieve our sales volume targets for 2022,” he added.

TMP’s retail vehicle sales went up by 25.6% to 80,090 units for the January-to-June period from 63,758 units sold in the previous year.

Unicapital’s Mr. Fausto said TMP saw a huge jump in its sales of retail vehicle units “consistent that more of the population is going out.”

Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC), in which GT Capital has shareholdings, reported a 24% year-on-year increase in its consolidated core net income to P7.5 billion in the first half.

The 15% increase in the contribution of its operations was “mainly driven by a strong recovery in toll road traffic and growth in power consumption, as more industries ramped up operating capacity.”

The power segment accounted for 60% or P5.9 billion of MPIC’s net operating income; toll roads contributed 26% or P2.5 billion; and water made up 15% or P1.4 billion.

GT Capital’s property subsidiary, Federal Land, Inc., posted a 15% growth in its consolidated net income in the first half to P676 million.

First-semester revenues totaled P5.7 billion, 11% higher than last year’s, driven by a 31% growth in reservation sales amounting to P8.4 billion.

Federal Land is expected to launch two more new projects within the year.

Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan said that “the conglomerate’s performance during the period was relatively in line with our expectations.”

He said that for the rest of the year, “assuming that the current mobility curbs remain lenient,” TMP, Metrobank, and the potential rebound in Federal Land could buoy GT Capital’s 2022 financial year profitability by dou-ble-digits.

Meanwhile, AP Securities’ Mr. Temporal said that TMP’s margins are likely to remain dampened as the local currency is expected to remain weaker in the second half.

“However, with auto sales on track to achieve management’s guidance of double-digit growth towards the yearend, we expect this to partially offset the impact of margin pressures,” he added.

Mr. Temporal also said that with TMP’s resilience coupled with Metrobank’s sustained earnings growth, GT Capital “is poised to have a much better bottom line.”

On Tuesday, shares in GT Capital went up by 3.22% or P16.50 to P529.50 apiece.