Benpres makes turnaround due to lower debt, asset sale
abs-cbnNEWS.com | 11/16/2009 5:10 PM
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MANILA - Benpres Holdings Corp. posted a net income of P10.92 billion in the first 9 months of 2009, reversing a net loss of P841 million in the same period in 2008, due to one-time gains from the buyback of debts and sale of subsidiary's shares in the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco).
In a statement, Benpres said its consolidated revenues grew 55% to P25.87 billion in January to September compared to P16.71 billion in the same months last year.
The company said its net income for the 9-month period of 2009 was largely due to a P7.52 billion one-time gain from the extinguishment of debts. On August 21, the company bought back its own debts from Avenue Capital Group in principal amounts of $252 million and P467 million, at an overall price of 65% of face value. The purchase price was settled in full.
Aside from these, Bepres also bought back $11 million and P173 million worth of debts from other creditors.
In all, Benpres' outstanding debt was down to P3.01 billion as of end-September from P8.64 billion as of end-December 2008.
Benpres also recorded a foreign exchange loss of P248 million in the first 9 months, down 81% from the P1.27 billion incurred in the comparative period.
Benpres is the Lopez family's holding firm for investments in broadcasting and cable television, power generation and distribution, telecommunications and real estate. As a holding company, it derives revenues from asset sales and dividends from investees.
Benpres said a higher share in earnings of subsidiary First Philippine Holdings Corp. (FPHC) largely lifted its bottomline.
FPHC returned to a net profit of P7.8 billion from a net loss of P156 million after booking P7.2 billion in extraordinary gains from the sale of its 20% stake in Meralco to the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) group in July. Also contributing to its net income were lower finance and other charges due to debt repayments, and lower foreign exchange losses.
Another Benpres subsidiary, media conglomerate ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp., posted a 12% increase in net income to P1.349 million during the 9-month period, mainly on higher direct sales. The consolidation of Sky Cable's revenues in ABS-CBN and the growth of ABS-CBN Global subscriber numbers, despite a global recession, stabilized ABS-CBN revenue streams.
Bayan Telecommunications, meanwhile, trimmed its net loss to P565 million from P2.57 billion on the back of the depreciation of the peso. Benpres said its investment in Bayan has been fully written off, thus, it no longer equitizes income or loss from Bayan.
abs-cbnNEWS.com is the online news department of ABS-CBN Interactive Inc., a subsidiary of ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp.
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