Posted on 09:28 PM, July 04, 2010 [ BusinessWorld Online ]
BY NEIL JEROME C. MORALES, Reporter
THE PROPERTY arm of listed sugar producer Roxas and Co., Inc. is planning a number of tourism and residential projects to expand its business outside Batangas and Cavite.
Roxaco Land Corp.’s joint venture projects include the 88-hectare residential beach resort Peninsula de Punta Fuego and the 61-hectare seafront property Terrazas de Punta Fuego, both in Nasugbu, Batangas. -- BW FILE PHOTO
Roxaco Land Corp.’s joint venture projects include the 88-hectare residential beach resort Peninsula de Punta Fuego and the 61-hectare seafront property Terrazas de Punta Fuego, both in Nasugbu, Batangas. -- BW FILE PHOTO
More projects will allow Roxaco Land Corp. to raise revenues by as much as half every year in the next three years, an executive said.
“We have identified two platforms for growth. One is tourism-leisure and the other one is housing. [T]here is a housing backlog [in the country],” Santiago R. Elizalde, senior vice-president of Roxaco Land Corp., told BusinessWorld.
Meanwhile tourism has an “upside” given the new government’s commitment to develop the sector, he said.
For the residential expansion, the company will focus on the provinces as Metro Manila is already cramped with property developers. “We want to concentrate on smaller pieces of property unlike others who think 100 hectares is not worth their while,” Mr. Elizalde said.
The company is evaluating properties in the city of Lipa and the municipality of Sto. Tomas, both in Batangas, and the city of Sta. Rosa in Laguna.
Roxaco Land, which was incorporated in 1988 as a subsidiary of Roxas and Co., has so far sold about P3 billion worth of lots and properties.
Joint venture projects include the 88-hectare residential beach resort Peninsula de Punta Fuego and the 61-hectare seafront property Terrazas de Punta Fuego, both in Nasugbu, Batangas.
On its own, Roxaco Land has developed in Nasugbu projects like the 23-hectare Landing Subdivision and the 23.6-hectare Palm Estates Subdivision.
For tourism projects, the company will develop its 3,000-hectare land bank in Nasugbu with “strategic investors.”
“Based on our master plan, we can have 15 phases,” Mr. Elizalde said, adding that the project will be “mixed-use” -- residential, cultural, tourism, and commercial.
Late last year, the Supreme Court denied the Roxas group’s plea for exemption from the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program. “The court case is proceeding. But there are areas which are not covered by the case which allows us to develop,” he said.
Roxaco Land, which recorded a P15.9-million profit in the nine months of its fiscal year ending July 2010, will account for 60%-70% of Roxas and Co.’s earnings from about 20% previously.
“As far as growth in revenues, we are targeting an annual increase of a minimum 50% in the next three years,” Mr. Elizalde said.
For capital spending, Mr. Elizalde said the company has allotted P300 million this year.
“For this year, we are looking at [launching] one other project within Nasugbu, one other project in the municipalities of Nasugbu and Balayan in Batangas and possibly one project in Lipa City and a residential project in Sto. Tomas,” he said.
Last year, the firm did not launch new projects to dispose of inventory.
Profits of Roxas and Co., incorporated in 1981 as an agricultural firm before being restructured in 2008, dropped by 44% to P41.32 million in the first quarter due to lower revenues.
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