Posted on April 09, 2012 09:42:08 PM [ BusinessWorld Online ]
CENTURY PROPERTIES, Inc. is looking to borrow as much as P4 billion from banks in order to bankroll a portion of its capital expenditures this year, a company official said last week.
“We are considering borrowing, and our bankers are already talking of around P2 billion to P4 billion in borrowing to take place sometime this year,” Jose E.B. Antonio, Century Properties chairman, said in an interview last Wednesday.
The developer has alloted an P8.3-billion budget for 2012, which is which is more than three times higher than its P2.6-billion budget last year, an earlier report showed.
“We have some new projects coming up that we will announce in a few months,” Mr. Antonio said.
Century Properties has already developed a total of over 22 buildings and 720 homes to date, according to its Web site.
The company had already collaborated with international brands Versace Home and GE Healthcare, as well as with heiress Paris Hilton and the Trump Organization for the branding of some developments.
Similarly, other big-name developers such as Ayala Land, Inc. and SM Development Corp. have decided to tap the bond market to finance parts of their respective capital budgets for the year.
In a related development, Mr. Antonio said that its planned tourism development in Batangas has already made some progress.
“We are now in the master-planning stage,” Mr. Antonio said, referring to the company’s 142-hectare lot in Nasugbu town, which it plans to develop a into a leisure and resort community estate with Group Developers, Inc., Caylaway Development Corp. and Batulao Bio-loop Farms, Inc.
Moving forward, Century Properties said it was optimistic about its year-end targets, including net income and revenues.
“We are very positive. So far, the local economic fundamentals are also positive, so we are buoyant about our prospects this year,” Mr. Antonio said while declining to cite specific numbers.
The company has yet to release its financial statement for 2011.
Century Properties, established in 1986, is a high-end developer with over 40 projects in its total portfolio as of last year.
It debuted on the Philippine Stock Exchange last September via a backdoor listing, replacing energy firm East Asia Power Resources Corp.
Last month, the company moved to raise its public float level to 17.5%, from a previous 6.4% through a private placement transaction with Dutch-based pension firm APG Strategic Real Estate Pool N.V.
This allows the company to meet the bourse-mandated minimum public float level of 10%.
Century Properties increased its net income to P779.65 million in the January to October period last year, 399% higher than the P156.66 million booked by the end of October 2010, fueled by significant growth in the firm’s real estate sales, interest, and other income. -- F. J. G. de la Fuente
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