Alliance Global Group, Inc. (AGI), the holding company of tycoon Dr. Andrew L. Tan, saw its 2022 consolidated revenues surge to a record level of P183.6-billion, reflecting a robust 20% growth from P152.8-billion the year before.   

However, increased inflationary pressures, higher cost of raw material and ongoing distribution bottlenecks pushed overall costs and expenses to grow at a faster pace. Altogether, these factors capped AGI’s net income to P25.2-billion, an increase of 6% year-on-year, while attributable net profit amounted to P16.1-billion. In 2021, however, Group performance included significant extraordinary items booked under its gaming unit, which if netted out should reflect a growth of 27% year-on-year in AGI’s core profit, while core attributable income should show a 7% improvement from the year before.    

“The country’s sustained economic recovery helped propel the sequential topline improvement of all our business segments last year, leading to our record performance in consolidated revenues in 2022,” says Kevin L. Tan, AGI’s chief executive officer. “It also helped that our Group’s diversified portfolio has remained agile to spot and seize opportunities in the market place.”

AGI has varied interests spanning real estate developments through property giant Megaworld Corporation; spirits manufacturing through Emperador Inc.; leisure, entertainment and hospitality through Travellers International Hotel Group, Inc.; quick service restaurants (QSR) through Golden Arches Development Corporation (GADC), popularly known as McDonald’s Philippines; and infrastructure development through Infracorp.

“All our businesses exhibited a sharp recovery in 2022. Our spirits, gaming and entertainment, as well as QSR units have registered unprecedented levels of revenue last year, driven by their respective strong brand equity and effective marketing strategies. Our real estate business also performed mostly above its peers, particularly in terms of keeping office rentals steady, higher-than-industry occupancy rates for its offices and hotels, and robust residential pre-sales,” adds Tan.  

In 2022, premier township developer Megaworld registered a 17% increase in consolidated revenues to P59.5-billion from P50.8-billion the year before, supported by the 18% year-on-year growth in real estate sales, 51% recovery in rentals of Megaworld Lifestyle Malls, 35% jump in revenues of Megaworld Hotels and the sustained 11% rise in rentals of Megaworld Premier Offices. Buoyed by increased mobility and foot fall with the further reopening of the economy, occupancy rates of the office, mall and Metro Manila hotel segments improved to 92%, 90% and 64%, respectively. Meanwhile, reservation sales surged anew to P119-billion, boosted by project launches amounting to P45-billion.

Emperador, the biggest global brandy company and among the fastest-growing Scotch whisky manufacturers, reported another record performance in 2022 as consolidated revenues grew 12% to P62.8-billion from year-ago level of P55.9-billion. Even as it is already coming off a high base, international whisky revenues grew another 18% year-on-year, contributing 35% of group total, driven by the continued popularity of Whyte and Mackay’s single malt brands The Dalmore, Jura and Tamnavulin. Meanwhile, Emperador Brandy, which has maintained its dominance in the domestic brandy market, registered a 9% improvement in revenues. But sharper increases in raw material costs, as well as selling and marketing expenses, weighed on its profitability, bringing its attributable net income to P10.1-billion, reflecting a flattish year-on-year growth. 

GADC also sustained its strong quarterly growth trajectory in 2022, driven by the resurgence in consumer spending and customer traffic as the economy continues to reopen. A long-term partnership between AGI and the George Yang Group that holds the exclusive franchise to operate the ‘McDonald’s’ restaurants in the Philippines, GADC reported an unprecedented level of sales revenue of P34.4-billion, up sharply by 38% from P24.9-billion the year before. Systemwide sales also grew by 38%, backed by SSSG of 31% year-on-year. Even with challenges brought about by higher raw material costs and operating expenses, the company more than doubled its attributable profit to P1.8-billion from P869-million. McDonald’s Philippines closed the year with 704 stores throughout the country.

“As we face a challenging global and domestic macro environment, our Group remains optimistic of our growth prospects this year, armed with the belief that our sound business strategies, competitive positioning and healthy financial standing will continue to bear us through as we move forward,” concludes Tan.