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COMPANIES in five of the six industry groups listed at the
Philippine Stock Exchange’s (PSE) main board enjoyed higher
profits last year, according to the local bourse.
In a statement, the PSE said holding firms
enjoyed the highest earnings growth at 53.7 percent to P74.99
billion last year. This sector also accounted for the biggest share
of profits.
Mining companies’ combined earnings grew by
42.3 percent to P7.67 billion, while the property sector’s net
income jumped by 41.4 percent to P26.60 billion. Companies under the
financial sector saw an expansion of 24.9 percent to P46.37 billion,
while those belonging to the services sector rose 8.4 percent to
P70.13 billion year-on-year.
The combined earnings of companies in the
industrial sector however contracted by 23.5 percent to P60.06
billion last year while those listed in the Small and Medium
Enterprise Board fell 5.7 percent to P15.55 million.
The combined earnings of companies that make up
the 30-company composite index went up by 5.1 percent to P191
billion.
Profits of all publicly listed companies in the
country grew by double digits last year, albeit slowing from the
previous year despite a more favorable macroeconomic environment,
the PSE said.
The bourse said the combined earnings of listed
firms last year grew by 12.9 percent to P285.83 billion. This was
slower than the 27.5-percent expansion enjoyed in 2006. The combined
gross revenues of these companies also expanded by 10.2 percent to
P2.42 trillion this year.
The PSE said the numbers were based on the 2007
financial statements submitted by 235 listed companies as of May 16,
2008.
“We are happy to find out that our listed
companies once again enjoyed higher earnings last year. This means
that our favorable macroeconomic conditions last year, especially
our low inflation and interest rates and strong local currency,
benefited again our listed companies. We understand, of course, that
inflation and interest rates have acted up again this year as an
offshoot of global uncertainties, and we in the PSE are closely
watching how these changes affect our listed companies,” Francis
Ed. Lim, PSE president and chief executive, said.
The average inflation rate lasted year dipped to
2.8 percent, the lowest in 21 years. But it started climbing again
to an average of 6.9 percent for the first five months this year.
This spurred bank lending rates to creep up from last year’s 6.85
percent to 8.59 percent so far this year.
The peso last year strengthened to 41.40 against
the US dollar—a huge leap from 49.13 a year earlier. However, this
was reversed when the local currency fell to 43.88 against the
greenback.
-- Likha C. Cuevas-Miel
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