Philippines' Ayala posts 12% rise in profits

Philippine business giant Ayala Corp. announced a 12-percent rise in net profit for the first half of this year with a strong performance expected for the rest of 2011. Net profit for the country's oldest conglomerate hit 4.9 billion pesos ($115 million) from January to June as most of its subsidiaries across a wide range of sectors reported strong earnings. "The aggressive moves of our business units to develop innovative products and services... have resulted in healthy revenue and earnings growth," Ayala president Fernando Zobel said in a statement on Friday. "We believe this momentum will continue through the rest of the year." Zobel also said a steady Philippine economy and strong domestic demand had helped to fuel the company's growth. The company's real estate, banking, telecom and water services all showed strong growth although its automobile arm suffered due to supply disruptions in Japan following the march 11 quake and tsunami, the statement said. Ayala also has an expanding business process outsourcing unit that was in the red in the first half of the year, but that was due acquisitions of other companies. Ayala's profits were within analysts' expectations, who agree it is also likely to do well for the rest of the year despite the economic turmoil in the United States, said Astro del Castillo of First Grade Holdings. "Ayala Corp is known to weather such crises through innovative pricing and its way of adapting, knowing how to sacrifice its margins and make itself more efficient," he told AFP.