Thursday, April 29, 2010 [ sunstar.com.ph ]
By Katlene O. Cacho
THE Ayala Group of Companies is allocating P2 billion for capital expenditures (capex) for Cebu starting this year.
The capex is meant to fund the major developments of the company in its residential, office and retail businesses in Cebu.
“The firm will redouble its efforts to take advantage of the opportunities brought by the country’s recovering economy,” said Francis Monera, president of Cebu Holding, Inc. (CHI), during the firm’s annual stockholders meeting yesterday.
CHI is a publicly listed company engaged in real property ownership, development, marketing and management. It is an affiliate company of Ayala Land Inc.
Monera said the company will launch this year three residential units, a business process outsourcing project and a mall re-development project.
He said they are finalizing plans to add leasable space with an expansion project that will complete the full circle design of Ayala Center Cebu.
The re-development, he said, will provide more leasable spaces for local and international brands to the mall’s merchandise mix.
Ayala Center Cebu generated a total revenue of P696.77 million, or 19 percent higher than it did in 2008.
Monares attributed this to higher rental rates and sales per square meter and the full operation of The Terraces.
He said the firm will also forge partnerships with other strategic business units of Ayala Land to maximize industry expertise within the group as they set up new projects and explore markets this year.
“We have started, through Cebu Property Ventures and Development Corporation (CPVDC), to partner with the Ayala Land Businesscapes to create the eBloc Tower which was fully-leased out last year. A partnership with Avida is also underway for another development of affordable residential condominiums in Asiatown I.T. Park intended to fully complement the other amenities in the park,” Monares said.
CPVDC is a subsidiary of CHI. It is the owner and developer of Asiatown IT Park.
The firm, Monares said, will also invest in two residential condominium projects within Cebu Business Park,
“One will be here at the City Sports Club Cebu. This will allow us to unlock the value of the land as well as boost the value of ownership at the club. The other residential condominium will be at the Park Tower area, an addition to the two other towers in the enclave which have already been sold out,” he said.
Each residential project will have 500 units.
The remaining undeveloped land within Asiatown I.T Park will also be developed into offices to cater to IT and IT-enabled locators.
CHI chairman Antonino Aquino said the firm will accelerate the development of the projects in line with Cebu’s growing economy, resurgence of tourism, excellent talent pool and vibrant business climate.
Last year, CHI registered a consolidated revenue of P1.29 billion and a net income after tax of P302.19 million, lower than the previous year levels.
The after tax margin was at 23 percent compared to the previous year’s 27 percent.
“However, factoring out the effect of the 1.7 hectare one–time Cebu Business Park transaction in 2008, CHI exhibits an actual growth of nine percent in revenues and 18 percent in net income,” Monares said.
Its total assets stood at P5.77 billion at yearend with a two percent increase of P114.63 million. Of the total consolidated assets, P1.84 billion is classified as current, representing an increase of 17 percent from the previous year’s level.
Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on April 30, 2010.
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