MANILA, Philippines - Lopez-led
Rockwell Land Corp. plans to raise as much as P7 billion either through debt or
equity to bolster cash reserves.
Rockwell president Nestor Padilla said
the company is in discussions with banks and investment banks to “help put
together a more realistic fund-raising program” to better prepare them for
emerging opportunities in the industry.
“We’re looking at raising between P5 billion
and P7 billion either through debt or equity...It actually depends on market
conditions. The equity market has not been that bullish lately so we’ll see,”
Padilla said.
The company wants to shore up its land
bank to sustain its development pipeline for the next five years. It plans to
diversify into new geographical areas to take advantage of robust demand for
real estate.
“There are a lot of opportunities in Metro
Manila and provincial areas. We’re hoping we can close some deals within the
year,” Padilla said.
Continuing its tradition of building
innovative and world-class properties, Rockwell is looking at branching out
into Cebu and Davao to develop projects catering to the upper mid-market.
Rockwell is one of seven companies that are
vying for the 74-hectare state property within the Food Terminal Inc. complex
in Taguig City. The bidding has been rescheduled to Aug. 14 from Aug. 8 to give
bidders more time to study additional information on the property.
The company aims to double its
projected P1.1 billion earnings this year in two years or by 2014 on the back
of new product launches.
Rockwell currently has 90,000 square meters of
space for lease and expects this figure to double by 2014 and triple by 2016.
In the first half of the year, Rockwell reported
a net income of P439.7 million on revenues of P2.5 billion. Sales take up
jumped by 70 percent to P4.1 billion.
Established in 1995, Rockwell
transformed a former thermal power plant into a high-end living environment now
known as the Rockwell Center. Sitting on a 15.5 hectare site in Makati City,
the company’s flagship project Rockwell Center now comprises five high-rise
residential towers, a sports and leisure club, office buildings, a lifestyle
shopping center, and a graduate school of law.
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