BDO Leasing’s end-September net earnings down by 70%

BDO LEASING & Finance, Inc. (BLFI) posted a lower net income as of end-September despite gains from investments due to base effects following the company’s restructuring.

The leasing arm of BDO Unibank, Inc. registered a net profit of P39.8 million as of end-September, decreasing by 70% from the P134.6 million logged a year earlier, it said in a filing on Thursday.

“The first nine months of 2021 results were lower compared to P134.6 million earnings a year ago, as last year’s earnings were based on a balance sheet prior to the full implementation of the restructuring of BDO Unibank Group’s leasing business,” BLFI said.

“This entailed the sale of substantially all of BLFI’s assets to BDO, BDO Life, and BDO Finance Corp.,” it added.

BLFI ceased its operations as a leasing firm and finished the assignment and transfer of its leasing and financing business to affiliate BDO Finance on Oct. 19, 2020.

BLFI’s net income as of end-September was solely from fair value gains from its investments in unit trust investment funds (UITFs), it said.

Meanwhile, the firm’s assets as of end-September reached P6 billion, of which P5.9 billion were placed in UITFs.

BLFI’s parent BDO registered net earnings worth P11.033 billion in the third quarter, down 10.6% from P12.346 billion a year earlier due to increased expenses and lower interest rates. — L.W.T. Noble