BUSINESS

By Julito G. Rada

INFLATION in April decelerated to an eight-month low of 6.6 percent from 7.6 percent in March on slower increases in the prices of food and nonalcoholic beverages, the Philippine Statistics Authority said Friday.

Data from the PSA showed the April inflation was the slowest since it settled at 6.3 percent in August 2022.

National statistician and civil registrar general Dennis Mapa said, however, the April inflation remained elevated

Ayala Land’s Q1 profit climbed 42% to P4.5b

PROPERTY developer Ayala Land Inc. saw its net income surge 42 percent in the first quarter to P4.5 billion amid continued recovery of its residential, mall and office leasing businesses.

First-quarter revenues rose 26 percent to P30.9 billion, ALI said in a stock exchange filing Friday.

ALI president and chief executive Bernard Vincent Dy said all business lines showed progress, demonstrating market stability in the property sector. “We remain optimistic about the sustained expansion of our businesses this year, fueled by supportive economic drivers and the strength of the Philippine economy,” he said.

Property development revenues increased 8 percent to P17.1 billion, driven by higher residential completions, bookings and sale of office units. Residential sales were up 10 percent to P14.2 billion on continued strong demand for housing projects despite the high interest-rate environment.

Residential sales to local buyers jumped 13 percent in the first quarter, accounting for 68 percent of total sales. Sales to overseas Filipinos were almost the same as last year, while sales to other nationalities surged 61 percent. Jenniffer B. Austria

Cebu Pacific rebounded with P1.1-b Q1 profit

CEBU Air Inc., the operator of Cebu Pacific, said Friday it returned to profitability in the first quarter on the back of the recovery of its passenger business.

The airline unit of the Gokongwei Group reported a first-quarter net profit of P1.1 billion, bouncing from a P7.6-billion net loss in the same period last year, driven by strong passenger and ancillary revenues. This marked Cebu Pacific’s first profitable quarter since the pandemic, as it generated total revenues of P20.9 billion, or 211 percent higher than the first quarter of 2022.

It said passenger business generated P14.3 billion in revenues, up by 352 percent year-on-year. This was followed by ancillary business which generated P5.46 billion which grew 221 percent. The airline flew over 4.8 million passengers in the first quarter, up by 135 percent from a year earlier. This pushed load factor to 83 percent, up 13 percentage points year-on-year.

Darwin G. Amojelar

AbaCore posted P2b in net income in 2022 compared to 4.9 percent in April 2023.

ABACORE Capital Holdings Inc., a holding company involved in sectors such as real estate, tourism, mining and finance, said it registered a consolidated net income of P2 billion in 2022 — exceeding its target of P1.8 billion for the year. Earnings per share came at P0.4641.

ABA’s profits primarily came from P1.9 billion worth of gain on revaluation on its assets. Other sources of income include a gain of P399.7 million from the sale of investment properties, P71.76 million from the sale of investment in subsidiaries and P15.2 million in dividends received from subsidiaries.

Expenses amounted to P86 million last year, a decrease from P105.7 million in 2021.

“The year 2022 was filled with milestones for ABA given we pursued deals in the key sectors we operate in,” said ABA chairman, president and chief executive Raul De Mesa.

“We look forward to executing these deals given the long-term value it will provide to our shareholders and the diversification they will provide to ABA’s income streams,” he said.

The latest figure brought the average inflation in the first four months to 7.9 percent, above the government’s target range of 2 percent to 4 percent.

Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said the continued decline of inflation since the peak of 8.7 percent in January 2023 was a positive development. “The recent inflation numbers indicate that we are on track to managing inflation to within the target range sometime in the fourth quarter, if not sooner, and near the midpoint of the target range of 2 to 4 percent by next year,” he said.

He said this clearly demonstrated that the whole-of-government approach to tackling inflationary pressures “is bearing fruit.”

The April inflation outturn was within the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ forecast range of 6.3 percent to 7.1 percent for the month, consistent with the over- all assessment that inflation would remain elevated over the near term before gradually decelerating back to target range towards end-2023.

“The balance of risks to the inflation outlook for 2023 and 2024 also remains tilted heavily towards the upside. Despite the recent slowdown in food inflation, the potential effect of ongoing supply shortages continues to pose an upside risk to the outlook,” the BSP said in a statement.

The BSP said the policy-making Monetary Board would consider the latest figure along with the upcoming gross domestic product data for the first quarter of 2023 in its policy meeting on