DESPITE weaker earnings from several business units, Lopez-led energy conglomerate First Philippine Holdings Corp. (FPHC) saw third-quarter profits soar almost fivefold thanks to the sale of a portion of its interest in Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) to businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan in July.

In its financial statement, FPHC said profits registered during the July-to-September period jumped 394 percent to P7.48 billion, mainly on the P7.23-billion non-recurring gain from the Meralco sale.

This also brings the company’s nine-month profits up 126 percent to P11.2 billion from the same period last year.

The figure, however, was “reduced by the combined effect of lower income posted by Energy Development Corp. [EDC], higher finance costs, mark-to-market losses on derivative transactions, and absence of income from tollways operations,” said FPHC in a statement.

The company noted that revenues for the period declined 6 percent to P43.5 billion as electricity sales, which account for 84 percent of the total, declined by a tenth due to lower average gas prices and lower dispatch of its gas plants. 

THE holding company of the Ayala Group is on the lookout for business acquisitions in new sectors where it can make an “impact,” a top official said on Friday, noting the conglomerate can easily tap its multibillion-peso cash hoard to fund any investment.

In a briefing, Ayala Corp. managing director John Eric Francia said that as of September, the firm has P26.4 billion in cash, of which “half is readily deployable for investments.”

THE listed property arm of the SM Group sees profits for the full year 2009 to exceed those from the last two years as it plans to increase capital spending to fund new and ongoing projects.

In a memorandum to the stock exchange, SM Development Corp. (SMDC) also bared an aggressive plan for 2010 which it will jumpstart through a P5-billion stock rights offer, tentatively set on January 4 to January 8 next year.