MANILA, Philippines - The property arm
of diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC) will launch five residential
projects this year requiring P7.7 billion in investments.
San Miguel Properties Inc. (SMPI)
wants to take advantage of the company’s idle assets and sell out existing
projects, company officials said.
“We will be launching three premiere
townhouse developments in Mandaluyong and Pasig and two high-rise condominium
projects in Makati and San Juan,” said Karlo Marco P. Estavillo, general manager
of SMPI.
He said construction cost is P4
billion for the Makati project, P3.3 billion for San Juan and P400 million for
three townhouse projects.
Estavillo said the condominium units
will be completed in three to five years while the townhouse project is
scheduled for completion in 18-20 months.
“We wanted to maximize the value of
prime properties we have instead of them being idle,” said SMPI sales manager
Karen V. Ramos.
Last year, the property firm launched
just one project as it focused on planning for new developments, she said.
The Makati high-rise project will be
composed of three 37-story towers with a total of 1,300 units worth up to P3.5
million each. The 18-story San Juan project will consist of 300 units for the
middle to high-income segment.
The three townhouse projects will
feature 12 to 20 units worth between P8 million to P12 million each.
“These are pocket developments located
in prime areas. We are now venturing into townhouse, which is an additional
segment in addition to our vertical developments,” Ramos said.
SMPI also plans to sell all remaining
inventory in its projects in Gen. Trias in Cavite. Specifically, these projects
are upper-middle income projects Maravilla and Asian Leaf, and affordable
housing development Bel Aldea.
“As we sell down the remaining
inventory in Cavite, the company is getting ready to offer fresh inventory in
response to the growing demand for near-city and city-center dwellings,”
Estavillo said.
To date, SMPI is building a 29-story
serviced apartment in Greenbelt area in Makati. The project will be completed
in 2014.
Completed residential developments
include low-income subdivisions Buenavista Homes in Cebu and Villa de Calamba
in Laguna; middle-income subdivision Primavera Hills in Cebu, Legacy in
Parañaque City and Maravilla and Bel-Aldea in Gen. Trias; and high-end
subdivision Wedge Woods in Silang, Cavite.
Last year, SMPI’s profits slumped to
P86.89 million from P717 million a year ago on the absence of one-time gains
from the sale of several properties.
Revenues rose 43 percent to P844.43
million given improved offtake in residential development and record
reservation sales.
Meanwhile, SMPI is looking at options to
increase its 0.6-percent public float to the 10 percent requirement of the
local stock exchange.
“One of the options being considered
is declaring stock dividends to SMPI. SMC will declare stock dividends to its
shareholders,” SMPI manager Karen Cas-Caballa said.
Meanwhile, SMPI and parent firm SMC
completed yesterday a share purchase deal with Malaysia’s CIMB Bank Berhad.
The firms sold 65.08
million shares or a 58 percent stake in Bank of Commerce for P12 billion.
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