MPIC completes purchase of 51% of Bacolod hospital

By Zinnia B. Dela Peña (The Philippine Star) Updated June 01, 2010 12:00 AM

MANILA, Philippines - Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC), the local flagship of Hong Kong-based conglomerate First Pacific Co. Ltd., said yesterday it has completed the purchase of a 51-percent stake in Riverside Medical Center Inc. (RMCI), the largest hospital in Bacolod City, Negros Occidental.

MPIC purchased its shares in the 336-bed hospital from Torre Hermanos Agro-Industrial Enterprises Inc.

Founded by Pablo O. Torre, RMCI started as an eight-bed clinic in 1954 and has since expanded with medical departments comprising obstetrics and gynecology, medicine, orthopedics, ENT, pediatrics, emergency medicine, pathology, physical medicine and rehabilitation, imaging sciences, anesthesia, surgery and opthalmology.

The purchase, which was in line with MPIC’s bid to build the first nationwide chain of premiere hospitals in the country, brings the group’s total number of healthcare centers to four with a total capacity of over 1,300 beds.

With the acquisition, MPIC chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan will assume the chairmanship of RMCI while Dr. Hector L. Torre was appointed chairman emeritus of the hospital.

The three other medical centers in MPIC’s portfolio include Makati Medical Center and Cardinal Santos Medical Center in Metro Manila and Davao Doctors Hospital in Mindanao.

The deal also includes the purchase of RMCI’s wholly-owned unit Riverside College Inc., a nursing school with 2,800 students.

For the fiscal year that ended May 31, 2009, RMCI registered consolidated revenues of P940 million and an asset base of P911 million as against liabilities of P553 million.

MPIC is expected to perform better this year given the full year earnings contribution from power utility giant Manila Electric Co. and the steady strong performance across all its business units. Core net income is forecast to hit above the P2 billion recorded in 2009.

The group continues to be on the lookout for possible acquisitions that will help expand revenue streams, further strengthen its operations and prepare it for a much solid platform for growth. 

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SC: Arlegui property case decision final

06/01/2010 [ tribune.net.ph ]

Any plans for the new Chief Executive to move in to the so-called Arlegui guest house across Malacañang maybe fraught with complications.

SC Court Administrator and spokesman Jose Midas Marquez said the high court had ordered the entry of judgment in connection with the sprawling Arlegui property as early as Dec. 16, 2008.

The Arlegui property was a residential house that was seized from its real owners during martial law by the cronies of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos.

Marquez said the high court “affirmed with modification” the Oct. 4, 2007 decision, and the records of the case were remanded to the Manila Regional Trial Court on March 18 last year, for the execution of the decision.

“The motion for reconsideration before the SC concerning the Arlegui house has been denied with finality and entry of judgment has been made,” he said in a text message to reporters, but declined to give details.

It remains unclear whether the government and the owner of the Arlegui property — Tarcila Laperal Mendoza, who is now in her 90s – have already forged a settlement, although sources said the court-ordered payments had already been settled.

Aside from ordering the government to vacate the place, the SC, in its October 2007 ruling, also directed it to pay Mendoza around P8 million in rental fees from 1975 up to present.

The said property is presently being occupied by the officers and staff of the Presidential Action Center and other agencies under the Office of the President. It also served as the presidential guest house during the terms of Presidents Corazon “Cory” Aquino and Fidel Ramos.

In a decision penned by Associate Justice Cancio Garcia, the SC First Division affirmed the Aug. 27, 2003 ruling of the Regional Trial Court of Manila, Branch 37, declaring Mendoza as the real owner of the subject property covered by Transfer Certificate Title (TCT) 118527.

Mendoza claimed that she had been in possession of the property until the first week of July 1975 when a group of armed men representing themselves to be members of the Presidential Security Group of then President Marcos forcibly entered her residence and ordered her to turn over to them the title to the property and compelled her and the members of her household to vacate the same.

She said out of fear for their lives, she handed her owner’s duplicate certificate copy of TCT 118527 and left the property.

Mendoza later found that TCT 118527 had already been canceled by virtue of a deed of sale in favor of the Republic allegedly executed by her and her deceased husband on July 15, 1975.

The SC modified the lower court’s ruling which directed the government to pay Mendoza more than P2 billion, including interests, representing the rental use of the Arlegui property.

Instead, it ordered the Office of the President to pay her the amount of P20,000 a month beginning July 1975 until it vacates the property and the possession is given back to her.

The SC noted the subject property had minimal rental value during martial law, given the very restrictive entry and exit conditions prevailing at the vicinity at that time and even after. Benjamin B. Pulta

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MMDA awards house-and-lot package to 3,000 workers

06/01/2010 [ tribune.net.ph ]

In line with its first socialized housing program for employees, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) awarded certificates of lot assignments to 2,756 beneficiaries during yesterday’s flag raising ceremony held at the MMDA grounds in Makati City.

Qualified permanent and casual employees as well as those on job order (JO) status, who have rendered at least five years of service to the agency, were selected through a raffle as recipients of parcels of land in Sitio Paligawang Matanda in Carmona, Cavite.

The MMDA allocated 50 square meters lot to each JO beneficiaries, 75 square meters to permanent, and 100 square meters to ranking officials.

The agency raffled off certificates of awards to a total of 2,756 qualified employees from among the 3,190 personnel who have signified their interest to avail of the program.

Recently, the 17 mayors of Metro Manila composing the Metro Manila Council (MMC), the policy-making and governing body of the MMDA, unanimously approved MMDA Resolution 10-03 Series of 2010 empowering the agency to use its funds for the construction of the PGMA-MMDA Village.

“I’m sure that everybody is happy with today’s awarding of the certificates because it is a realization of our vision and promise to provide decent housing for our employees,” MMDA Chairman Oscar Inocentes said.

The PGMA-MMDA Village will sit on a 65.9-hectare property of the agency in Carmona, which used to be a sanitary landfill. It is the agency’s first socialized housing program, which Inocentes fast tracked upon his assumption to office last November.

Inocentes said he initiated the implementation of the housing program for MMDA employees in line with President Arroyo’s vision of providing low-income state workers with decent and affordable housing.

The housing complex will include facilities such as school, church, and medical clinic.

The MMDA chief vowed to seek an arrangement with Pag-Ibig to provide funds for the construction of houses, which the beneficiaries will pay subsequently.

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Alphaland ramps up expansion with construction of 4 projects

By Zinnia Dela Peña (The Philippine Star) Updated May 31, 2010 12:00 AM

MANILA, Philippines - Ongpin-led-Alphaland Corp. is ramping up its expansion with the construction of at least four projects, which include its foray into sustainable tourism, as it aims to strengthen its position in the real estate industry.

On the sidelines of the company’s annual stockholders meeting yesterday, Alphaland chairman Roberto V. Ongpin said the property firm, which has a net asset value of P12.5 billion, will develop an upscale resort complex in Boracay and Balesin Island, Quezon.  Plans are also underway for the construction of a self-contained mixed-use complex with a world-class marina and yacht club in a 32-hectare reclaimed land in Paranaque City.

The Boracay project, dubbed Alphaland Boracay Gateway, will be a masterplanned community geared as an eco-resort destination featuring residential, retail, hotel, sports and recreation areas.  It will rise on a sprawling 500-hectare property in the northern tip of Nabas, Aklan on Panay Island.  The project is in partnership with Akean Resorts Corp., an affiliate of the Prudentialife Group of Companies, headed by Amb. Francisco Alba.

The other resort, Balesin Island Club, will involve the development of six resort clusters, each with 12 residential villas.  Located on a 380-hectare property in Pollillo, Quezon, Balesin Island Club will require an initial investment of $300 million to $400 million.

Aside from this, the company will start construction of Alphaland Makati Tower, a 35-story building that will serve as the corporate headquarters of Alphaland and British investment fund Ashmore Group in the Philippines.  The property, with an appraised value of P1.23 billion, will rise on a 2,400-square meter lot.

Alphaland has budgeted between P3 billion and P5 billion for its capital expenditures this year, which include the construction of the retail center and the city club for The Alphaland Makati Place, which will consist of several high-end residential towers.

Ongpin said the Alphaland Bay City will have the ultra-modern marina yacht club as its centerpiece which will be large enough to accommodate over 70 large yachts and one super yacht.

Alphaland holds a 20 percent stake in Shangri-La at the Fort, a combination of a luxury hotel skyscraper and luxury residences in the Bonifacio Global City.  Slated for opening in 2014, Shangri-La at the Fort will offer 500 rooms.

Its first project, Alphaland Southgate Tower, is a 20-story structure offering a total of 36,000 square meters of leasable space.

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SMDC set to acquire properties in Global City

By Zinnia B. Dela Peña (The Philippine Star) Updated May 31, 2010 12:00 AM

MANILA, Philippines - SM Development Corp. (SMDC), the listed residential development arm of the SM Group, is looking to acquire properties in the booming Bonifacio Global City as it enters the high-end market.

Rogelio Cabunag, president of SMDC, said the firm is in the process of acquiring a nearly 4,000-square meter lot in Fort Bonifacio near St. Lukes as part of its landbanking activities.

Cabunag said the company plans to build a high-rise building with the construction targeted to start next year.   

He said SMDC is scouring other areas for possible acquisition to further ensure long-term growth, using proceeds from the recently concluded P10-billion corporate notes issue, which was more than three times oversubscribed.

SMDC was originally looking to issue P5 billion but upsized it to P10 billion on strong demand. BDO Capital & Investment Corp. was the lead arranger.

Cabunag also disclosed that the SM Group, which currently owns 80 percent of SMDC, is considering divesting an initial five percent of its holdings to boost the listed firm’s public float. He said several entities have offered to arrange the transaction, which could take place within the year.

In the first quarter this year, SMDC reported a 51-percent jump in net earnings to P632 million, preselling a total of 3,547 units or 294 percent higher year on year.  Total sales reached P7.2 billion, up 192 percent from the previous level.

SMDC has 12 ongoing residential projects, of which 11 are in key areas within Metro Manila, and one is in the mountain resort city of Tagaytay.

For this year, SMDC is launching four new projects which will entail between P4 billion and P8 billion in funding requirements. These new projects are located in various strategic sites in Taft, Manila; Ortigas in Pasig City, and Quezon City.

New projects would include the company’s foray into economic housing under the brand Myplace, whose initial project will rise on a one hectare lot in front of the Danarra Hotel near the ABS-CBN compound. The pilot project will offer a total of 2,000 units with a size of 20 square meters each.

The other ongoing projects of SMDC are Chateau Elysee, a mid-rise condominium project in Parañaque City, which has completed five of its six clusters;Berkeley Residences in Katipunan Road, Quezon City, which is 63 percent complete; Grass Residences beside SM City North Edsa, which is 58 percent complete with its Tower 1; Sea Residences near the Mall of Asia Complex in Pasay City, which is 38 percent complete with Phase 1; and Field Residences in Sucat, Parañaque, which is 95 percent complete with its Tower 1. Both Mezza Residences, which is just across SM City Sta. Mesa and Lindenwood Residences, a residential subdivision in Muntinlupa City, are 100 percent complete.

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Philcomsat branches out into property dev’t

05/31/2010 [ tribune.net.ph ]

After registering a modest profit after 10 years of consecutive losses, publicly listed Philcomsat Holdings Corp. (PHC) announced over the weekend that it intends to invest in new businesses to further enhance its bottomline.

PHC chairman Katrina Ponce Enrile disclosed that aside from its core business of telecommunications, the company will focus on property development and eco-tourism development.

She said the company is now exploring possibilities for a 300-hectare undeveloped lot located just beside Montemar Beach Resort, which PHC owns.

Aside from this, PHC will gain an interest in Philcomsat which has telecommunications facilities in Pinugay, Rizal and satellite uplinking equipment sitting on 700 hectares of real estate. It will gain an interest in 2.5 hectares of land in the Ayala Alabang business center. This is in addition to what PHC now owns, that is a 2.9-hectare Pasig property and a large unit at the Pacific Star Building in Makati City.

PHC’s new businesses will be supported by additional funds which it expects from increasing its authorized capital stock from one billion to million to 3 billion common shares with a par value of P1 per share.

Earlier, the company announced that the company is in the black with a P5.7 million profit in 2009, a year after its current and unified board of directors recovered most of PHC’s assets and streamlined its operations.

PHC chief financial officer Lin Bildner said 2009 was the first year of profits following four years of heavy losses under the company’s former board.

She disclosed that PHC bit the bullet and wrote off a P600 million in toxic assets and losses incurred from 2004 to 2007 due to alleged massive plunder of its funds by a previous and illegitimate board of directors led by nominees of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG).

The massive losses are due to anomalous expenses, investments and advances to failed ventures, excessive compensation packages for PCGG and its nominees, deposits to suspicious bank accounts and dubious accounting practices of PHC’s former directors.

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SM group to trim holdings in real estate subsidiary

Monday, 31 May 2010 00:00 [ manilatimes.net ]

BY KRISTA ANGELA M. MONTEALEGRE REPORTER

The SM group will trim holdings in its housing unit to raise additional funds to acquire more land.

Rogelio Cabuñag, SM Development Corp. (SMDC) president, said the SM group, which owns 80 percent of the real estate firm, may unload 5 percent to 10 percent of its shareholdings. “Initially, it will be 5 percent then it might increase, depending on the market,” Cabuñag said, adding that the company has received offers to syndicate the secondary offer.

The sale of a 5-percent stake could raise more than P1 billion.

SMDC is 64-percent owned by SM Land Inc., formerly Shoemart Inc., and 11-percent owned by its founder, Henry Sy Sr. The rest of the SM group’s stake in SMDC is owned by the rest of the Sy family.

Cabuñag said the funds would be used to buy land in Taguig and SMDC already received an offer to sell a 5,000-square-meter property in the area.

“We are looking at properties in Fort Bonifacio. We have one but we want more,” the SMDC executive said.

The property firm already owns close to 4,000 square meters in Fort Bonifacio, where an upscale SM Residences project will rise next year.

SMDC wants to accelerate the company’s land banking initiatives, thus, it has been raising funds starting early this year to complete these plans. The company recently doubled the amount of debt papers it is selling from P5 billion to P10 billion amid high investor demand.

It has acquired properties along Taft, Manila and Katipunan, Quezon City, where De La Salle University and Ateneo de Manila University, respectively, are situated.

For the first quarter, SMDC reported a net profit of P632 million, or 51 percent more than last year. It pre-sold 3,547 units worth P7.2 billion, 294 percent higher year-on-year.

SMDC has 12 ongoing residential projects, eleven of which are in key areas within Metro Manila, and one in Tagaytay.

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Pangilinan eyeing one more hospital

Posted on 09:13 PM, May 30, 2010 [BusinessWorld Online ]

BY NEIL JEROME C. MORALES, Reporter

PANGILINAN-LED Metro Pacific Investments Corp. is in talks to acquire one more hospital this year out of four medical facilities being eyed for acquisition, an executive said.

The move will further strengthen the hold of Metro Pacific -- which now claims to be the country’s largest hospital operator -- in the local health care industry. The group will “synergize” operations and services of its hospitals in the next year or so to further increase efficiency.

The listed holding firm has identified four hospitals -- one each in Northern Luzon, Central Luzon, Metro Manila, and Northern Mindanao -- for acquisition, Augusto P. Palisoc, Jr., Metro Pacific executive director and chief of firm’s health care group, said in a recent interview.

“We hope to acquire one more hospital before the year ends,” Mr. Palisoc said in Filipino.

Early this month, Metro Pacific bought majority of Riverside Medical Center, Inc., the largest hospital in Negros Occidental, for an undisclosed amount.

Riverside Medical Center, the group’s fourth hospital and the first in the Visayas region, is a 336-bed level four hospital with obstetrics and gynecology, medicine, orthopedics, and surgery departments.

Mr. Palisoc said the group still has about P1 billion for a new hospital acquisition this year.

“We want at least [a 200-bed hospital],” the executive added.

Metro Pacific had allotted P1 billion to P2 billion for capital spending and acquisitions under its health care group, which accounts for less than 1% of the holding firm’s profits.

Core net income of the health care group dropped by 12% to P111 million in the first quarter due to higher expenses -- outpatient services for Makati Medical Center, accessibility for patients at the Cardinal Santos Medical Center, and new parking buildings and 42 new clinics at the Davao Doctors Hospital.

Excluding Riverside Medical Center, the hospital group of Metro Pacific has a capacity of more than 1,300 beds.

Mr. Palisoc said Metro Pacific would “synergize” the operations of three hospitals by next year. Under the plan, the group will have joint procurement, services, equipment trading, and medical and management systems.

“Our strategy is we allow an individual hospital to reach its optimized level of performance before the group-wide synergy,” he said.

Shares in Metro Pacific, whose profits in the first quarter rose by 118% to P775 million, went up to P2.90 apiece on Friday from P2.80 on Thursday.

The tollway unit of Metro Pacific, meanwhile, is looking to start the construction of a road linking Luzon’s two main expressways before the year ends.

“The government already has the budget for the right-of-way [acquisition]. After that, we could start construction,” Metro Pacific Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said in Filipino.

The government is expected to shell out P2.41 billion for the right of way.

Last month, Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. submitted an unsolicited proposal to the government to build a “connector road” between the North Luzon Expressway (NLEx) and the South Luzon Expressway (SLEx).

The P17-billion project will start from the C-3 interchange in Tondo, Manila to Senator Gil Puyat Avenue in Makati.

The NLEx-SLEx connector road will span 13.24 kilometers and would have ramps on España Boulevard, Quirino Avenue, and San Andres, all in Manila.

“We will do it in three segments -- nine, 10 and 11,” Mr. Pangilinan said. “[Segment] 11 is the harbor connection to Buendia, the Skyway.”

Metro Pacific wants to connect the North Harbor, which is being operated by a joint venture where it owns a 35% stake, to the Skyway and South Luzon Expressway.

There will be elevated roads and a bridge over the Pasig River.

Early this month, the Department of Public Works and Highways said the unsolicited proposal was complete and was in compliance with build-operate-transfer rules.

Metro Pacific is the Philippine unit of Hong Kong’s First Pacific Co. Ltd., part owner of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT).

Mediaquest Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT’s Beneficial Trust Fund, has a minority stake in BusinessWorld.

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Caticlan airport project needs new ECC, says governor

(The Philippine Star) Updated May 31, 2010 12:00 AM

MANILA, Philippines - The proponent of the P2.5-billion expansion of Caticlan airport in Aklan should apply for a new environment clearance certificate (ECC) and acquire local permits before they can level the hill around the airport, Aklan Gov. Carlito Marquez said.

Members of the Earthsavers Movement have expressed strong opposition to the leveling of the hill because of the destruction of Boracay’s “micro-climate”, the extinction of nearby Lupo-lupo lake from being filled up with soil and aggregates from the hill, destruction of coral reefs and forests, and eventual flooding. They urged apparent president Noynoy Aquino to review the airport expansion.

According to Maquez, the provincial government had issued necessary local permits for the project when the Department of Environment Natural Resources approved the ECC in 2006.

However, Marquez clarified that the ECC did not state that the hill will be leveled by the proponent, who will extend the existing runway from 950 meters to 2,100 meters, improvement of the road network and upgrading of airport facilities and air traffic control aids.

The governor pointed out that the previously issued ECC, was for the provincial government’s simple upgrade of the airport complex and not the present development plan as envisioned the Caticlan International Airport Development Corp. (CIADC).

He told newsmen that the CIADC did not have proper consultation with the provincial officials, which is one of the three major components of the issued ECC along with a multi-partite monitor team and social responsibilities with stakeholders.

Concerned residents said the plan of the developer to level the nearby hill along the runway poses danger to the environment in mainland Panay.

Marquez said he will ask the members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan and the provincial engineering office to look into the status of the project after learning that the proponent has not started the project after two ground breaking ceremonies wherein President Arroyo herself was guest speaker.

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SC affirms ruling sugarland covered by CARP

Posted on 06:38 PM, May 28, 2010 [ BusinessWorld Online ]

The Supreme Court affirmed its 2007 decision that subsequently upheld the inclusion of sugar lands in the coverage of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (CARL).

In a minute resolution, the high court denied with finality the motion for reconsideration filed by groups whose members are large sugar producing firms, such as the Confederation of Sugar Producers Association Inc. (Confed), National Federation of Sugarcane Planters, Inc., United Sugar Producers Federation of the Philippines, Inc., Panay Federation of Sugarcane Farmers, Inc., First Farmers Holding Corp., National Congress of Unions in the Sugar Industry of the Philippines and the League of Municipalities of the Philippines-Negros Occidental Chapter.

The court said "no substantial arguments were presented to warrant the reversal of the questioned decision." Its decision last March 2007 reads "it is not within the power of the court to pass or look into the wisdom of the inclusion by Congress of the sugar lands in the coverage of RA 6657 (CARL). It is basic in our form of government that the judiciary cannot inquire into the wisdom or expediency of the acts of the executive or the legislative department..."

The sugar producers had asked the high court to stop the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) and Land Registration Authority (LRA) from considering their sugarcane farms as part of eminent domain. This means that the farms would be placed under compulsory acquisition without filing the necessary expropriation proceedings. They said it would be "unwise" and impractical" for Congress to include sugar lands, since these could be more efficiently operated by organized, mechanized, plantation-type agriculture than by small owner-cultivated farms.

RA 6657 was signed into law on June 10, 1988 by then President Corazon C. Aquino in an attempt to promote social justice and industrialization. Previously, it was only rice and corn lands that were covered by the government’s comprehensive agrarian reform program.

Incidentally, the family of Mrs. Aquino is the owner of the 6,453-hectare Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac. The latter is also a member of Confed. The sugar land is now the subject of a separate case with the high court.

Hacienda Luisita was previously exempted from CARP distribution by placing the estate under a non-land transfer scheme, called stock distribution option, for its farmers. In 2005 however, the Presidential Agrarian Reform Council ruled to place the entire Hacienda Luisita under compulsory acquisition for distribution to farmers. The following year however, the high court issued a temporary restraining order. It has yet to issue a final decision on the matter. -- Ira P. Pedrasa

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SM property arm to raise P1B from share sale

Posted on 06:55 PM, May 28, 2010 [ BusinessWorld Online ]

The SM mall and banking group of the Sy family might unload shares equivalent to 5% to 10% in its property arm to raise a minimum of P1 billion to buy more land, an executive said yesterday.

The announcement came a few days after the property developer secured P10 billion from corporate notes.

"Eventually our group might reduce its holdings to give way [to other investors]," Rogelio R. Cabuñag, president and chief operating officer of SM Development, told reporters on Thursday.

"We are targeting [to complete the share sale] towards the third quarter," he added.

The SM group owns about 80% of SM Development, which has a market capitalization of P33.527 billion. The sale of a 5% stake will yield P1.34 billion.

Mr. Cabuñag said there were already offers to syndicate the secondary share offer.

Early this week, SM Development secured P10 billion from three- and five-year corporate notes. Proceeds of the notes issuance will be used for "land banking."

Profits of SM Development are expected to rise by 30% to 50% this year given continued demand for economic housing units. The net income of SM Development ballooned to P1.8 billion last year from P56.8 million the previous year.

Funds to be raised from the secondary offer will be used to buy land in Taguig. "We are looking at properties in Fort Bonifacio. We have one but we want more," he said, adding that there were offers involving a 5,000-square-meter lot in the area.

To date, the property developer owns about 4,000 square meters in Fort Bonifacio, which will be used for an upscale SM Residences project next year.

SM Development has 12 ongoing residential projects, of which 11 are in key areas within Metro Manila. It has one project in the mountain resort of Tagaytay in Cavite.

Shares in SM Development closed higher P6.30 each on Friday from P6.10 on Thursday.

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SMDC raises P10 billion from corporate notes issue

By Zinnia B. Dela Peña (The Philippine Star) Updated May 28, 2010 12:00 AM

MANILA, Philippines - SM Development Corp. (SMDC), the residential development arm of the SM Group, said it has successfully raised P10 billion from a recent corporate notes issue.

SMDC was originally looking to issue P5 billion but upsized it to P10 billion on strong demand. BDO Capital & Investment Corp. was the lead arranger.

The issue, which fetched a price of 6.75 percent for the three-year notes worth P2 billion and 7.73 percent for the five-year notes worth P8 billion, was more than three times oversubscribed by domestic institutional investors.

“The strong demand for SMDC’s corporate notes clearly indicates the trust and confidence investors have on the company, anchored on the fact that our balance sheet is still virtually debt-free. This highly encouraging market acceptance was brought about by SMDC’s sustained robust performance underpinned by its on-time delivery of five-star quality yet affordable residences at prime locations,” SMDC president Roger R. Cabuñag said.

Proceeds from the notes issue will be used for SMDC’s various land banking initiatives.

In the first quarter this year, SMDC reported a 51 percent jump in net earnings to P632 million, preselling a total of 3,547 units or 294 percent higher year-on-year. Total sales reached P7.2 billion, up 192 percent from the previous level.

SMDC has 12 ongoing residential projects, of which 11 are in key areas within Metro Manila, and one in the mountain resort city of Tagaytay

For this year, SMDC is launching four new projects which will entail between P4 billion and P8 billion in funding requirements. These new projects are located various strategic sites in Taft, Manila; Ortigas in Pasig City and Quezon City.

New projects would include the company’s foray into economic housing under the brand Myplace, whose initial project will rise on a one-hectare lot in front of the Danarra Hotel near the ABS-CBN compound. The pilot project will offer a total of 2,000 units with a size of 20 square meters each.

The other ongoing projects of SMDC are Chateau Elysee, a mid-rise condominium project in Parañaque City, which has completed five of its six clusters; Berkeley Residences in Kati-punan Road, Quezon City, which is 63 percent complete; Grass Residences beside SM City North Edsa, which is 58 percent complete with its Tower 1; Sea Residences near the Mall of Asia Complex in Pasay City, which is 38 percent complete with Phase 1; and Field Residences in Sucat, Parañaque, which is 95 percent complete with its Tower 1. Both Mezza Residences, which is just across SM City Sta. Mesa and Lindenwood Residences, a residential subdivision in Muntinlupa City, are 100 percent complete.

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