Posted on
February 27, 2013 10:45:12 PM [ BusinessWorld Online ]
TY
CONGLOMERATE GT Capital Holdings, Inc. is considering listing its property unit
in the face of continued bright outlook on the stock market, a senior company
official said yesterday, even as noted that initial public offering (IPO) will
not take place this year.
GT Capital Vice-Chairman Alfred V. Ty, who is
also president of Federal Land, Inc., said while an IPO for property firm was
“very much possible,” it would not take place in the near-term.
AN EXCITING
YEAR
“Very much
possible; the market is very good,” Mr. Ty replied when reporters asked on
Federal Land’s IPO prospects on the sidelines of the GT Capital’s bond listing
at the Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp. (PDEX) office in Makati City.
“[We have] a
lot of projects for Federal Land and additional funds would definitely be helpful
for the projects that we are putting up; so, exciting year, so definitely it is
something to consider.”
GT Capital
yesterday listed P10-billion bonds on PDEX. It listed P3.1 billion worth of
bonds maturing in 2020 with an interest rate of 4.8371% per annum, and P6.9
billion with 5.0937% interest rate per annum that will mature in 2023.
Asked if the
IPO would be this year, Mr. Ty replied: “Not yet. It is something to think
about from the Federal Land side, from GT Capital side.”
He did not
elaborate.
So far, only
one firm -- Yao-led Philippine Business Bank -- has listed this year.
Including GT
Capital, five firms conducted IPOs last year. The other four firms were East
West Banking Corp.; farm supply distributor Calata Corp.; coal miner Coal Asia
Holdings, Inc.; and colorant producer D&L Industries, Inc.
CAPEX
Meanwhile,
Mr. Ty said the company has earmarked P10 billion for capital expenditures this
year, a fourth more than the P8 billion budget last year.
The company,
he said, plans to launch five new “bigger” projects this year.
In
comparison, the company launched eight projects last year.
“For the new
ones, these are residential projects, but they are really… in bigger scales
because we are trying to add some retail and office components to them, so that
the place would be more conducive for family living,” Mr. Ty said.
Federal Land
also expects to increase its reservation sales by 25% this year, he said.
“We are
looking at reservation level of P15 billion. Last year, it was around P12
billion,” Mr. Ty said.
Federal
Land’s parent, GT Capital, has earmarked as much as P40 billion for capital
expenditures this year, compared to its P15-billion budget last year, mostly
for its property and power ventures.
Aside from
property and power generation through Global Business Power Corp., the company
has investments in other sectors, namely: in banking (Metropolitan Bank &
Trust Co.), life insurance (AXA Life Insurance Corp.), and automobiles (Toyota
Motor Philippines Corp.).
STRONG
RESULTS
The firm more
than doubled its net income to P6.86 billion as of September last year from
only P2.64 billion in the same nine months in 2011 due to gains from the
consolidation of its power business, a bigger share in the net income of its
units, and nonrecurring income from its property subsidiary.
In the same
comparative periods, revenues grew threefold to P16.70 billion from P5.37
billion, while costs and expenses surged nearly fourfold to P9.71 billion from
P2.66 billion.
Shares of GT
Capital added 50 centavos or 0.07% to close at P730 apiece yesterday from
P729.50 on Tuesday. -- Cliff Harvey C. Venzon
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