LT Group, Inc., the listed investment holding company of the Lucio Tan Group, eked out a slight gain in first-quarter net income to P6.42 billion this year from P6.38 billion in the year-earlier period, buoyed by earnings improvement in its banking and beverage businesses.
Consolidated revenue in the first quarter rose 9.4 percent to P28.50 billion.
Higher earnings contributed by the beverage group and Philippine National Bank helped offset the weakness shown in the first quarter of LT Group’s tobacco, property development and distilled spirits segments.
The banking business posted a 9.9 percent gain in net income to P5.31 billion on higher interest income and lower provisions for impairment, credit and other losses. This raised LT Group’s share in PNB’s net income to P2.97 billion in the first quarter from P2.72 billion last year.
The beverage segment double first-quarter net income of P155 million mainly due to higher sales volume in all product lines.
The tobacco business under Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Corp. declined 13 percent to P2.66 billion on account of lower equitized earnings due to lower sales volume.
The net incomes of the distilled spirits and property development segments were P255 million and P116 million, respectively, both lower.
Cost of sales and services increased by 11 percent to P13.39 billion in the first quarter primarily due to higher interest costs of deposit liabilities by the banking segment. Operating expenses amounted to P9.18 billion, down 14 percent.
