Family business roundup: Estee Lauder, Ayala, SM post gains, Moller-Maersk raises profit forecast
It is turning out to be an upbeat period for family businesses with Estee Lauder, Ayala Corporation and SM Investments Corporation posting strong profit growth, while shipping giant AP Moeller-Maersk has raised its 2012 net profit forecast.
It is turning out to be an upbeat period for family businesses with Estee Lauder, Ayala Corporation and SM Investments Corporation posting strong profit growth, while shipping giant AP Moeller-Maersk has raised its 2012 net profit forecast.
Cosmetics manufacturer Estee Lauder today posted a net income of $51.2 million (€41.46 million) for the fiscal fourth quarter, up 24.6% from $41.1 million in the same period last year. Controlled by the Lauder family, the group added that revenues rose 9.2% to $2.25 billion due to an increase in sales in the US and China. Annual revenues also rose 10% to $9.71 billion from $8.81 billion in 2011.
In Denmark, shipping conglomerate AP Moeller-Maersk said its container business is “back in black figures” with an 11% increase in revenues for the second quarter of the year to 88.8 billion Danish kroner (€11.93 billion) from 80.11 billion Danish kroner in the same period in 2011. Higher freight rates and increased volume put its container shipping division in a stronger position, the company said on 14 August.
While quarterly net profit for the group was down 32% to 5.6 billion Danish kroner, the business, controlled by the Mc-Kinney Moller family, has forecast its full-year profit to be above those of 2011 – the family-controlled group had profits of $3.4 billion last year.
Across the globe, two of the Philippines’ biggest conglomerates reported significant gains, amidst a booming economy recently described by top economists as the strongest in the continent. SM Investments Corporation, controlled by the Philippines’ richest man Henry Sy and his family, announced on 14 August a 13% increase in half-yearly net income to 10.9 billion Philippine pesos (€210 million) from 9.6 billion Philippine pesos in the same period last year, thanks to healthy gains at its banking and retail operations.
Revenues for the first six months of 2012 likewise grew 14% to 105.2 billion Philippine pesos from 92 billion Philippine pesos the year before.
Meanwhile, consolidated net income for the first six months of 2012 was up 23% to 6.1 billion Philippine pesos at Ayala Corporation, the holding company of the eponymous family.
In a 10 August statement, the firm credited the profit boost to strong growth at its real estate, banking, and water businesses, which offset fall in earnings in its telecommunications arm.
