Conglomerate Ayala Corp. on Monday said its units settled their respective taxes totaling about P9.85 billion before the extended June 14 deadline of the Bureau of Internal Revenue to help boost the government’s coffers.
The taxes were paid by the core value drivers of the Ayala group—Ayala Corp., Ayala Land Inc., Bank of the Philippine Islands, Globe Telecom Inc., AC Energy and Manila Water Co. Inc.
“We are committed to help the President tackle the many challenges he has to deal with and are confident that by working together, our country can overcome each challenge, save lives, and gradually put the country back on a path of growth,” according to the joint statement of brothers Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala and Fernando Zobel de Ayala last week.
The Zobel brothers also emphasized the importance of public-private cooperation as the country deals with the adverse impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.
To date, the Ayala group said it has contributed about P5.6 billion to support initiatives aimed at protecting its employees, support its partners and clients, and provide for the communities it serves.
The conglomerate reported last week that its net income in the January-to-March period fell 17 percent to P6.7 billion, from last year’s P8.3 billion, as the Covid-19 crisis affected the performance of most of its business units.
Revenues fell 11 percent to P61.72 billion, from last year’s P69.5 billion as its core businesses—Ayala Land and Bank of the Philippine Islands—recorded weak results on the impact of government-mandated enhanced community quarantine protocols, which took effect last March 16.
Isolating the estimated impact of the health crisis, Ayala’s net income was flat from last year, which included the P1-billion divestment gains from the merger of AC Education with iPeople.
AC Industrials, meanwhile, registered a net loss of P564 million due to the impact of government-mandated shutdown of its facilities in China and market disruptions in the global supply chain in manufacturing.
Globe Telecom Inc. reported a profit decline of 2 percent to P6.6 billion during the period, but its power business recorded a turnaround, booking profits of P1.96 billion, from P2 million a year ago.
Manila Water’s first quarter net profits grew 4 percent year-on-year to P1.3 billion mainly due to the impact of the P534-million penalty from the regulator and P353-million bill waiver from the water crisis last year.