Vol. XXI, No. 159 [ Business World Online ]
Thursday, March 13, 2008 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES
LISTED FIRM Interport Resources Corp. is looking into reviving operations this year by converting one of its idle properties into a residential project.
Interport Resources Corp. is bent on selling
Apo Island in Palawan to finance its
residential project in Rizal. — BW File Photo
The company was formerly engaged in the oil exploration business but later changed its primary purpose into real estate development, but did not go into commercial operations due to the 1997 financial crisis.
In an interview after a stockholders’ meeting yesterday, outgoing company President Gil Miguel T. Puyat said Interport, which has been dormant for two years, would develop its 2,200-hectare property in Rizal.
"Some of these properties are tenanted or there are overlapping titles so what we’re doing now is we’ll have to settle with the other claimants," he told BusinessWorld.
Interport has cleared a total of 96 hectares of land and is working to increase the area to 100 hectares.
When it reaches 100 hectares, the company will enter into a joint venture agreement to develop the property into a subdivision catering to both high and low market segments, Mr. Puyat said.
"There is a huge demand in the region and the place is well-situated in relation to the future growth direction of the metropolis," he said.
Mr. Puyat said the company hopes to begin development within the next four to six months.
Interport also intends to sell its 896-hectare island in Palawan, named Apo Island, to raise money.
"[For that], our goal now is to simply sell the property that could help in the development of the project and consolidate our investments in the Rizal area," Mr. Puyat said.
The company president also said a stock rights offering is also being considered to accumulate more funds for the project.
"At the moment, this is not feasible because of the weak market. The company is confident that the situation will change for the better and the market price of its shares of stock will rise to justify an offering to its stockholders," Mr. Puyat said.
Also yesterday, stockholders approved the proposal to increase the company’s subscribed capital stock to 10 billion shares from four billion shares at a par value of one centavo each, with the board given the discretion to determine the details of the issuance.
Stockholders likewise voted Esteban G. Peña Sy as chairman and Alexander G. Asuncion as the new president.
Mr. Peña Sy is the president of Mabuhay Holdings Corp., which owns 40% of Interport.
The company initially ventured in oil exploration activities, having drilled two wells in Southern Mindoro and the Sulu Sea. But the global economic downturn in the late 1970s forced Interport to cut down on exploration activities.
In 1978, Interport bought a 2,200-hectare property in Binangonan, Rizal, two years after acquiring Apo Island located in Barangay Bintuan, Coron, Palawan. — L.N.P. Lee
