By Neil jerome C. Morales (The
Philippine Star) | Updated September 25, 2013 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines - Property giant
Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) has retained the top credit score for its P15-billion
long-term bonds issued in April last year.
Local debt watcher Philippine Ratings
Services Corp. (Philratings) said it maintained the issue credit rating for
ALI’s outstanding bonds at PRS Aaa.
“Obligations rated PRS Aaa are of the
highest quality with minimal credit risk. The obligor’s capacity to meet its
financial commitment on the obligation is extremely strong,” Philratings said.
Philratings said the credit score
reflects continuously growing profitability coupled with strong cash flow
generation and high cash reserves; conservative capitalization; diversified
portfolio with a substantial strategic landbank; and favorable outlook for the
real estate sector.
“ALI is one of the largest real estate
conglomerates in the Philippines,” Philratings said, adding that it is also
into office, shopping centers and hotel operations.
ALI is operating under five major
brands – Ayala Land Premier for the upscale segment, Alveo Land for the upper
and middle-income segment, Avida Land, Amaia Land for economic housing, and BellaVita
for socialized housing.
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For its landbank, Philratings said ALI
had 5,695 hectares of landbank located in various growth centers throughout the
country for its future developments.
In the first half, profits of the
property arm of the Ayala conglomerate surged 30 percent to P5.62 billion from
P4.33 billion last year, while consolidated revenues spiked 36 percent to
P36.63 billion from P27 billion a year ago.
The income growth was driven by the
strong performance of its property development, commercial leasing and
construction businesses.
“The company’s high income translates
to a substantial amount of cash flow and debt servicing capacity,” Philratings
said.
In 2012, the property firm generated
P10.48 billion in cash from operations, up from P8.76 billion in 2011. As of
end-June, ALI raised P14.26 billion in cash from operations and posted a cash
balance of roughly P38 billion.
Philratings said its issuer score is
based on available information and projections at the time that the rating
review is ongoing.
“Philratings shall continuously
monitor developments relating to ALI and may change the ratings at any time,
should circumstances warrant a change,” it added.
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