MANILA - One-off gains, along with growth across all units, boosted the profits of listed holding company Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Inc. from January to September.

In a statement yesterday, Aboitiz Equity Ventures said net income from July to September doubled to P2.4 billion over the same period last year. This brought 9-month profits to P5.9 billion, up by 74% from last year. This translates to P1.05 in earnings per share.

The conglomerate’s power generation group still accounted for the lion’s share of profits, followed by the banking group, the food group and the transport group.

The company also had a non-recurring gain of P543 million versus last year’s P161-million nonrecurring loss, as a result of the strong performance of the local currency and the aborted sale of Aboitiz Transport System.

“It is very assuring to know that all our businesses are not only profitable and performing well, but have strong cash flows and healthy balance sheets that are important to sustain their growth,” said Aboitiz Equity Ventures President Erramon I. Aboitiz.

Profits of unit Aboitiz Power Corp. grew by a fifth to P3.8 billion during the nine-month period on the back of the strong performance of its power generation business, which offset the lack of growth in power distribution.

The financial services group more than doubled its earnings contribution to P1.4 billion because of the “positive performance” of Union Bank of the Philippines and thrift bank City Savings Bank.

The Aboitiz transport group on the other hand earned P331 million for January to September, reversing a P32-million net loss last year. The gain was attributable to the 35% decline in fuel costs, which is Aboitiz Transport’s largest expense.

Aboitiz Equity Ventures said income contribution from its non-listed food subsidiary, Pilmico Foods Corp., grew by 97% to P734 million during the period. Pilmico Foods’ feeds business improved its bottom line, making up for the poor performance of the firm’s flour and swine groups.

Shares in Aboitiz Equity Ventures dipped by 2.4% or P0.20 to P8.10 apiece yesterday.