CONTRIBUTION DOWN 8% AT $226.2 MLN RECURRING PROFIT DOWN 10% AT $157.8 MLN NET PROFIT DOWN 19% AT $127.6 MLN INTERIM DISTRIBUTION UNCHANGED AT 8.0 HK CENTS |
Hong Kong, 19th August, 2016 - First Pacific Company Limited (HKSE: 00142) ("First Pacific" or the "Company") today reported its unaudited financial results for the six months ended 30th June 2016.
First Pacific, a leading investment management and holding company focused on the economies of emerging Asia, is a major or controlling shareholder in the Philippines' biggest telecommunications, infrastructure and mining companies and in Indonesia's biggest vertically-integrated food company as well as in one of Australia's and New Zealand's biggest food companies.
Under trading conditions marked by unfavorable currency movements and weakened commodity prices, key growth drivers for the Group delivered strong contributions while other units were held back by difficult market conditions. Overall contribution declined 8% to $226.2 million from $245.1 million.
The main factors behind the decline were difficult market conditions at PLDT Inc. (formerly known as Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company) ("PLDT") and FPM Power Holdings Limited ("FPM Power"), the holding company for PacificLight Power Pte. Ltd. Stronger results from PT Indofood Sukses Makmur Tbk ("Indofood"), Metro Pacific Investments Corporation ("MPIC") and Philex Mining Corporation ("Philex") as well as a greater contribution from Goodman Fielder Pty. Ltd. ("Goodman Fielder") mitigated these shortfalls.
At the same time, the Group has acted to firm up the market position of PLDT and MPIC while reducing net debt at First Pacific in a series of transactions at the end of May 2016.
"We are already beginning to leverage our new spectrum assets at PLDT to build momentum in market share," said Manuel V. Pangilinan, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of First Pacific, referring to the purchase of telecommunications assets by PLDT in late May 2016. "At the same time we have increased MPIC's exposure to power generation in the fast-growing Philippine economy and we've raised funds at First Pacific to reduce our overall debt and our interest bill."
These transactions were announced on 27th and 30th May 2016. They included PLDT's acquisition of half of the telecommunications assets of San Miguel Corporation and its sale of 25% of Beacon Electric Asset Holdings Inc. ("Beacon Electric") to MPIC. MPIC in turn sold new shares to GT Capital Holdings, Inc. ("GT Capital") while a Philippine affiliate of First Pacific sold part of its MPIC stake to GT Capital to raise $169 million for debt reduction. Beacon Electric in turn bought 56% of Global Business Power Corporation ("GBPC"), the biggest power producer in the Visayas.
"So, even before reporting what are frankly uneven results for First Pacific Group companies, we are proactively moving to improve performance going forward. It is with confidence rooted in this that our Board of Directors has approved an interim distribution of 8.0 HK cents, unchanged from last year," Pangilinan said.
Earnings per share in the first half of 2016 amounted to 23.3 HK cents (2.99 U.S. cents), down from 28.7 HK cents (3.68 U.S. cents) in the same period of 2015. On a fully diluted basis earnings per share was 23.3 HK cents (2.99 U.S. cents), down from 28.5 HK cents (3.66 U.S. cents).
Expenses at First Pacific in the first half of the year including head office costs, net interest expense and other expenses, fell 3% to $68.4 million from $70.3 million a year earlier. Recurring profit fell 10% to $157.8 million from $174.8 million a year earlier. First Pacific's share in PLDT's impairment provision for investment in Rocket Internet shares was the greatest factor in a 19% decline in net profit to $127.6 million from $157.4 million. Turnover at First Pacific was up 3% to US$3.44 billion from US$3.33 billion a year earlier.
At 30th June 2016, gross debt at the Head Office stood as $1.8 billion and net debt at $1.5 billion. Fixed-rate debt made up 82% of the total with floating-rate debt making up the remaining 18%. First Pacific's blended interest cost amounted to 5.3% and the average maturity of its debt was 3.6 years.
Further details of earnings by First Pacific's principal subsidiary and associated companies and a joint venture follow.
For more information, please visit http://doc.irasia.com/listco/hk/firstpacific/interim/2016/intpress.pdf.
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