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By Likha C. Cuevas-Miel Reporter
The combined profits of companies
listed at the stock market grew for the first nine months this year
on the back of an improving economy, the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE)
said.
Based on their unaudited
financial statements, profits earned by the 231 listed companies
rose 24.4 percent to P203.6 billion at end-September from a year
ago, while their combined gross revenues increased 12.4 percent to
P1.75 trillion.
The combined earnings of firms
belonging to the 30-company PSEi—the main barometer of stock price
movements—rose by 16.7 percent to P140.62 billion.
“The results of our latest
study once again provide us with clear proof that our stock market
stands on solid ground. It is also a clear indication that
improvements in our macro-economic fundamentals are benefiting the
listed companies,” Francis Lim, PSE president and chief executive,
said.
All industries in the main board
as well as small and medium enterprises (SME), except for the
services sector, registered double-digit expansion in profits.
Holding firms, which account for the biggest share in earnings, also
posted the highest growth at 54 percent to P53.68 billion from last
year. This was followed by the property sector, which posted a
51-percent growth, mining and oil sector at 43.7 percent; the
financial sector at 18.8 percent, and the industrial sector at 18.5
percent.
Year on year, profits earned by
companies in the SME board grew 20.5 percent to P8.81 billion while
the services sector—which accounted for the second-biggest share
of the firms’ net income—inched up by 2.7 percent for the first
nine months to P49.77 billion.
Companies that belong to the
industrial sector were the third biggest contributor with P42.32
billion followed by the financial sector, P34.22 billion; property
sector, P18.67 billion; and mining and oil, P4.93 billion.
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