LOPEZ-LED BENPRES Holdings Corp. wants to sell its one-third stake in Manila North Tollways Corp. to raise $100 million that will be used to service debt.
Benpres President and Chief Operating Officer Angel S. Ong said the company had tapped Macquarie Securities as underwriter for the undertaking.
"We have two options: a private placement or an offering wherein we will be the selling shareholder. But given the status of the market, it is hard to give you the exact timetable," he told reporters following a stockholders’ meeting yesterday.
First Philippine Infrastructure Development Corp. (FPIDC) owns 67% of Manila North Tollways which runs the North Luzon Expressway.
Benpres in turn owns 49% of FPIDC with associate First Philippine Holdings Corp. owning 51% of the shares.
Mr. Ong also said an initial public offering of property unit Rockwell Land Corp. hopefully this year, along with cash dividends from subsidiaries, could help partly fund loan obligations with several creditors.
"We’re trying to bring down debts to a half in a year and since August 2007 we have submitted a proposal with creditors on how to pay them over a period of over 12 years," he said.
Benpres, Mr. Ong added, is expected to receive the same amount of cash dividends last year, P1.3 billion, which funded debt interest payments amounting to P600 million.
The company has been selling non-core assets since 2004 to pare the $560-million debt it incurred from the rehabilitation of Maynilad Water Services, Inc. and Bayan Telecommunications, Inc.
Last year it repurchased $43 million from creditor Asian Infrastructure Fund, bringing down debt to $365 million.
In 2005, Benpres sold a portion of its 12.5% stake in Gokongwei-owned Digital Telecommunications, Inc. Mr. Ong said they would continue selling the remaining shares but declined to give a timetable.
Last April the firm sold its 18% stake in Professional Services, Inc., the owner of The Medical City, for P600 million.
Mr. Ong said Benpres was confident it would remain profitable through subsidiaries’ dividend income, majority of which comes from ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp. and First Philippine Holdings Corp.
Jun Calaycay of Accord Capital Equities Corp. said "It is a company that is in the process of getting back on its feet and I think investors should look into its portfolio of moneymaking companies."
Benpres, the holding company of the Lopez family’s flagship businesses, saw its net income decline by 92% for the first quarter to P60 million from P731 million from consolidated revenues of P4.26 billion.
Benpres shares fell yesterday to P1.42 from P1.5.
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