Despite suffering a 20 percent decline in consolidated net income last year, diversified engineering conglomerate DMCI Holdings Inc. is bullish on maintaining higher sales volumes this year to reverse the slump.

In a bourse report on Wednesday, DMCI disclosed that its consolidated net income in 2023 reached P24.9 billion, from P31.1 billion the previous year.

The company pointed out that the profit decline would have been sharper if not for the improvements in net income contributions from the real estate, off-grid energy, and water utility businesses.

The gains in these business units also helped offset the lower contributions from the integrated energy, nickel, and construction subsidiaries.

Sharp price corrections

“We saw sharp corrections in commodity and energy prices in 2023 but because our businesses did very well in terms of production and sales volume, we managed to prevent a severe decline in our profitability,” DMCI Holdings chairman and president Isidro A. Consunji said in the report.

Notably, contribution from Semirara Mining and Power Corp. went down by 30 percent from P22.7 billion to P15.8 billion on the combined effect of all-time high coal shipments and electricity sales amid stabilizing prices.

DMCI Homes contributed P4.6 billion in core earnings, a 2-percent uptick from P4.5 billion because of better selling prices and higher income from rental and forfeiture fees.

Affiliate Maynilad contributed P2.1 billion, a 42-percent improvement from P1.5 billion due to higher water production, billed volume and adjusted tariff.