By Neil
Jerome C. Morales (The Philippine Star) | Updated May 31, 2013
MANILA,
Philippines - The country’s oldest conglomerate Ayala Corp. (AC) took advantage
of liquidity in the equity market to raise P3.3 billion in fresh capital for
its power and infrastructure projects.
In a
regulatory filing, AC said it completed the sale of 5.18 million common shares
held in its treasury.
“This raised
cash proceeds of approximately P3.3 billion, which AC intends to use to fund
existing and potential sizable projects in the infrastructure and power
sectors,” AC said.
“This new
funding will further strengthen our balance sheet to build up our portfolio in
these two sectors,” said AC president and chief operating officer Fernando
Zobel de Ayala.
At P647 per
share, AC’s shares were sold at a three percent discount compared with the
previous closing price of P667.
The
conglomerate earlier announced that is looking to invest up to $1 billion over
the next five years for the capital intensive but high-yielding power and
infrastructure sectors.
“We hope to
be able to contribute in some measure to the development of these sectors and
at the same time create future sources of earnings and value for the group,”
Zobel said.
In the last
two years, AC has committed more than $300 million of equity on power projects
with roughly 900 megawatts (MW) of gross generating capacity.
“It is
looking to increase its equity commitment to $500 million to $600 million in
the next 12 to 18 months,” AC said.
Given its
bullishness in the power sector, AC has entered into a robust pipeline of
conventional and renewable power platforms through subsidiary AC Energy
Holdings Inc.
Specifically,
the conglomerate entered into an agreement to acquire around 20 percent of GN
Power Mariveles Coal Plant Ltd. Co., the company behind a 600-MW coal facility
in Bataan.
AC also has a
50-percent stake in South Luzon Thermal Energy Corp., which is building a
2x135-MW coal plant in Batangas in partnership with listed Trans Asia Oil and
Development Corp.
For the
renewable energy sector, AC owns 50 percent of NorthWind Power Development
Corp., a 33-megawatt wind facility in Ilocos Norte, as well as shares in
numerous mini-hydropower projects.
“AC continues
to actively explore greenfield and acquisition opportunities given the
significant power backlog in various regions,” the company said.
For the
infrastructure segment, the company said it is focusing on the bidding for
certain projects in the toll road, rail, and airport spaces.
AC, in
partnership with Pangilinan-led Metro Pacific Investments Corp., prequalified
to bid for the P60-billion Light Rail Transit Line 1 extension, and operations
and maintenance project. The same consortium also prequalified to bid for the
P1.72-bbillion automatic fare collection system for rail.
AC was also
prequalified to submit an offer for the P17.5-billion operation and expansion
of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport in partnership with Aboitiz Equity
Ventures Inc. and ADC&HAS Airports Inc.
In 2011, the
AC bagged the P2-billion Daang Hari-South Luzon Expressway Link Road, the first
Public-Private Partnership (PPP) project to be bid out by the government.
In the first
quarter, AC’s earnings hit P4.5 billion, up 29 percent from a year ago
supported by higher income from its banking and property businesses.
AC, is also
into real estate (Ayala Land Inc.),banking (Bank of the Philippine Islands),
telecommunications (Globe Telecom, Inc.), utilities (Manila Water) and
electronics (Integrated Microelectronics Inc.).
For this
year, the conglomerate allotted P135 billion in capital expenditures that will
bankroll investment programs in the property, telecommunications and water
businesses. It will also support investments in the power and transport
infrastructure sectors.
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