Posted on October 31, 2011 10:09:41 PM [ BusinessWorld Online ]
BY CLIFF HARVEY C. VENZON
CONSUNJI-LED DMCI Holdings, Inc. will no longer expand its condominium-hotel in Boracay, marking another decision to scale back corporate plans after earlier shelving a subsidiary’s listing debut.
The decision comes amid expectations that the conglomerate will post weak results for the second semester, an official said.
Victor S. Limlingan, DMCI Holdings managing director, said the company would not be expanding Alta Vista de Boracay in the famous tourist destination as the company realized that tourism is not its expertise.
“It’s one of our mistakes. It’s already there but we felt that we are not good in tourism,” he said in a chance interview late last week.
Mr. Limlingan clarified, however, that the project is doing well.
“We are starting to operate it. It is turning around. We are lucky that it is in Boracay Island so there’s no problem. But we decided that it is not our field of expertise,” he said.
Construction of Alta Vista de Boracay started in 2006 and it was completed in 2009.
The P5-billion project stands at a four-hectare property and has 17 buildings with three storeys each. Each building has 30 units, or 10 units per floor.
Mr. Limlingan said that second-semester performance of the company might not deliver a significant growth over year-ago levels. He, however, said that the company is projected to grow by 10%-15% for the whole year of 2011.
“Our properties are okay. The one we are disappointed is in our infrastructure…” he said.
“[But for full year,] I think 15% growth. That is through high price of coal, we maintained it. We also increased our production of power,” he added.
DMCI Holdings has so far notched P5.3 billion in net income for the first half, up 26% from year-ago levels.
Earlier, the firm had annouced it was shelving the initial public offering planned by subsidiary DMCI Homes, Inc. Officials had said it is easier to borrow from banks. Already, DMCI Homes has secured some P5 billion from lenders in January.
Mr. Limlingan added that the decision to shelve the listing debut was also due to concerns over its impact on the holding company.
“One of our independent directors said it might affect the holding company because it will sell at a bigger discount. Since we really don’t need to list, we decided to postpone the decision,” he said.
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