Robinsons Land eyes bond sale

Posted on February 27, 2014 11:33:57 PM

GOKONGWEI-led Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC) plans to raise up to P15 billion in fresh capital by selling bonds this year, company officials said yesterday.

The announcement comes after its parent JG Summit Holdings, Inc.’s successful P30-billion issuance of fixed rate bonds, which the company listed on the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. yesterday.

Officials told reporters that the conglomerate will give the move a follow-through to fund its capital expenditures (capex). The bond issue will be timed ahead of the maturity of debts worth P10 billion.

“We don’t have a feeling on the quantum [sic] yet. I would say it will be between the P10-15 billion range,” JG Summit President and Chief Operating Officer Lance Y. Gokongwei said on the sidelines of the bond listing at The Enterprise Center in Makati City.

“I anticipate [that to happen] in a few months. We have maturities in July and August so probably a little prior to that,” added Mr. Gokongwei, who also serves as the vice-chairman and chief executive officer of RLC.

Bach Johann M. Sebastian, JG Summit and RLC senior vice-president, said the new bonds could have a tenor of seven to 10 years, adding the company might hire “the same group of arrangers for this one.”

BDO Capital & Investment Corp., BPI Capital Corp., First Metro Investment Corp., The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Ltd., and Standard Chartered Bank served as the joint lead managers and underwriters for its most recent transaction.

“We will take the opportunity to raise a little bit more to fund the capex.” Mr. Sebastian said.

Last month, RLC announced that it will be spending P16 billion in capex this year. The developer said 80% will be allotted for the construction and completion of shopping malls, office buildings and hotels; while the balance will be spent for residential condominiums and housing units.

JG Summit’s P30-billion bonds listed yesterday are broken down as follows: P24.51 billion worth of five-year bonds, P5.31 billion worth of seven-year bonds, and P176.34 million worth of 10-year bonds.

The bonds due in 2019 carry an interest rate of 5.2317% per year; bonds due in 2021 pay an interest rate of 5.2442% per year; while bonds due in 2024 carry a rate of 5.3% per year.

JG Summit had said in its submission to the Securities and Exchange Commission that bond proceeds will be used to help pay for the acquisition of 305.69 million Meralco shares from San Miguel Corp., as well as general corporate purposes.

JG Summit in September last year purchased San Miguel’s 27% stake in Meralco for about P72 billion.

The Gokongwei conglomerate had initially raised some P20.8 billion to fund the purchase via an overnight equity placement of P8.8 billion and sale of P12 billion worth of shares in Universal Robina Corp. that diluted the holding firm’s stake in its food-and-beverage unit to P55.7% from 60.55%.

JG Summit’s investment in Meralco marked the conglomerate’s foray into the power distribution business, which adds to its existing portfolio that also includes airlines, real estate, banking and petrochemicals.

Its real estate investment unit, RLC, was incorporated in 1980 to engage in the business of selling, acquiring, constructing, developing, leasing and disposing of real properties such as land, buildings, shopping malls, commercial centers and housing projects, hotels and other variants and mixed-used property projects.

Yesterday, shares of JG Summit ended at P46.15 apiece, up P1.05 or 2.33% from P45.10 on Wednesday; while those of RLC were unchanged at P20.40 apiece. -- Claire-Ann Marie C. Feliciano

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Roxas Group to boost real estate portfolio

By Czeriza Valencia (The Philippine Star) | Updated February 27, 2014 - 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines - The holding company of the Roxas Group is strengthening its real estate portfolio within the next two to three years as several new projects progress and near completion.

During the annual stockholders meeting of Roxas & Co., Inc. in Makati yesterday, company chairman Pedro E. Roxas said some P1 to P2 billion in fresh capital has been allocated for the completion of its existing developments and construction of new ones within the next two to three years.

“We want to ramp up this business because we feel there is growth within three to five years, so we are getting a foothold in this sector,” he said.

RCI’s main holdings are real estate properties located in Nasugbu, Batangas, Tagaytay and other locations under Roxaco Land Corporation as well as sugar-production facilities in Batangas and Negros Occidental under listed Roxas Holdings, Inc. (RHI).

Through Roxaco Land’s hotel management arm, Fuego Hotels, it manages several luxury resorts in Batangas, Boracay and Bataan.

“Right now we are managing these properties, but moving forward, we are envisioning that in the future we would be managing and investing in some of these properties,” said Roxas.

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Around 80 percent of RCI’s business is still sugar. Pangilinan-led First Pacific recently acquired a 34-percent stake in RHI, a share sale seen to be beneficial for the sugar miller as it can take advantage of the global conglomerate’s reach in Vietnam, Cambodia and Indonesia.

Roxas said the company is looking into further diversification of the company’s holdings.

“As we have divested our sugar investment, we are looking at ramping the property side then balance it out,” said Roxas. “We are looking at making it 50-50 and maybe add a third sector so we can have a more balanced and diversified portfolio.”

For now, he said, RCI would concentrate on developing its real esate business this year.

“We have already done work there and it is just a matter of ramping up the projects,” said Roxas.

Santiago Elizalde, senior vice president of Roxaco Land Corp., said the Landing Townhomes project in Nasugbu, Batangas is expected to be completed this year, being already 50 percent finished. Around 70 percent of the units have already been sold.

The Orchards at Balayan residential project, also in Batangas, is the second phase of development.

The second phase of the development of the Anya Resort & Residences in Tagaytay City is seen to begin next month.

The company is also expected to break ground next week for the first of the five Go Hotels up for construction.

Late in 2013, Roxaco forged a joint venture with Singapore’s Vanguard Hotel Group for the construction of five Go Hotels in Metro Manila and select provincial destinations within three years.

The first Go Hotel would rise in Paranaque City by 2015, while the second would rise in North EDSA at a still undetermined time as it is still in the final stages of negotiations.

“The reason why we decided to go into the value hotel business is that the Philippines has had close to 40 million local travellers in the past years. So the huge volume of travellers has triggered that decision,” said Roxas.

He said that as a long-term plan, Roxaco wants to have holdings in all hotel market segments, not just in the value hotel segment.

“Well, we already have a partner in the value hotel segment and as far as the other sectors are concerned, right now we are evaluating a number of proposals but no decisions yet,” he said.

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Megaworld to develop P10-B project

By Neil Jerome C. Morales (The Philippine Star) | Updated February 27, 2014 - 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines - The Megaworld Group of property tycoon Andrew L. Tan is set to develop a 561-hectare integrated community south of Metro Manila estimated to cost P10 billion.

Southwoods City, located in parts of Cavite and Laguna, will be the largest fully-integrated township development of Global-Estate Resorts Inc. (GERI), company officials said yesterday.

“The development is positioned to be the next residential, business, commercial and leisure hub that is closest and most accessible to Metro Manila,” GERI said.

“We are bringing the expertise of Megaworld Corp. to this new township in the south. We look forward to a vibrant mixed-use community that incorporates the live-work-play-learn lifestyle concept in this multi-billion peso development,” said Megaworld first vice-president Jericho Go.

Megaworld will take charge of the design, conceptualization and masterplanning of Southwoods City. It will also manage the office towers and commercial components of the township.

Of the 561-hectare property, 376 hectares were allotted for the residential segment, including the 26-hectare residential village Pahara which consists of 602 available lots ranging from 239 to 523 square meters with views of the golf course and Laguna de Bay.

“Southwoods City will also feature a central business district, commercial and retail hubs, malls, residential condominiums, schools, a church, a cyberpark, a medical facility, open parks, leisure facilities, a weekend market and its own transport hub,” said Mary Rachelle I. Peñaflorida, vice-president of marketing arm Megaworld Global-Estate Inc.

The 125-hectare portion of the township will be occupied by the Jack Nicklaus-designed Southwoods City Golf and Country Club while the remaining 60 hectares were set aside for the Southwoods Business Park.

Two office buildings offering 20,000 sqm of space for business process outsourcing (BPO) firms are already in the advanced planning stages, Go said.

“We expect that once these buildings are completed in two years, we should have an opportunity to hire 10,000-12,000 employees,” Go said, adding that the Carmona, Cavite and Biñan, Laguna area is a good source of BPO workers.

GERI is the company behind tourism estates such as the 150-hectare Boracay Newcoast in Boracay Island; the 1,149-hectare rolling terrains of Twin Lakes in Tagaytay; and the 170-hectare Sta. Barbara Heights in Iloilo City.

For its part, Megaworld is one of the country’s top residential condominium developer and pioneer of townships Eastwood City in Quezon City; Newport City in Pasay City; and McKinley Hill, Uptown Bonifacio and Forbes Town Center in Bonifacio Global City. It is also the top office landlord and developer in the Philippines with around 712,000 sqm of office space inventory.

GERI and Megaworld are part of Tan’s Alliance Global Group Inc., which is also into liquor (Emperador Inc.) fastfood (McDonald’s franchise operator Golden Arches Development Corp.) and hotels and casino (Travellers International Hotel Group Inc.).

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Ortigas eyes P6B from luxury condo

Posted on February 26, 2014 10:52:52 PM [ BusinessWorld Online ]

 

ORTIGAS & Company Limited Partnership (OCLP) yesterday launched its second high-end condominium, expecting to generate P6 billion in sales.

The P4-billion, 62-storey Imperium is the second of five towers planned for Capitol Commons, a 10-hectare, mixed-use complex in Pasig City.

“Today, less than 1% of residential condominium supply is luxury condos.

A lot of supply today is upper-mid or lower-high condos, or middle-income,” Joselito F. Santos, senior vice-president of OCLP Holdings, Inc., said in a briefing yesterday at the project site.

Imperium, whose 226 units are priced P16-37 million each, is expected to be completed in 2019.

In June 2013, the company launched the first tower, the 64-storey Royalton which will open 2017.

Mr. Santos said capital expenditure has been set at P1.5 billion this year, half of 2013’s P3 billion. Total spending is expected to reach P15 billion over the next seven years. 

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DMCI Homes’ Parañaque project breaks ground

(The Philippine Star) | Updated February 21, 2014 - 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines - The groundbreaking for phase two and additional units in phase one of Parañaque City’s socialized housing project supported by DMCI Homes was held recently at the relocation site for informal settlers in Barangay La Huerta.

Mayor Edwin L. Olivarez, Parañaque Rep. Eric L. Olivarez and officials of DMCI Homes, Rotary Homes Foundation (RHF), Habitat for Humanity Philippines (HFHP), Couples for Christ Answering the Cry of the Poor (CFC Ancop) and South Metro Manila iHome Foundation (iHome) led the ceremonial capsule laying and shoveling for the second phase of the Bagong Parañaque Housing Project (BPHP) and additional 51 housing units in the site’s first phase called Parañaque Ancop Rotary Homes 1 (PAR Homes 1).

Vice Mayor Rico Golez, local officials involved in the project, home beneficiaries and a musical band also graced the Monday afternoon ceremony that included a prayer and blessing of the groundbreaking spots.

Mayor Olivarez thanked DMCI Homes for sponsoring the building of 90 homes in the 132-home PAR Homes 1 and 100 more units in the second phase.

“Phase 1 one is not yet complete and yet you are back again helping us do phase 2,” the mayor said during the event that formed part of the city’s weeklong celebration of its 16th cityhood anniversary. “Indeed, if we are together and united, we can raise the status of living of our countrymen.”

DMCI Homes vice president for legal affairs Roel Pacio described the ceremony as the fulfillment of the company’s part in the project located in a five-hectare property within the Don Galo estuary and C-5 Extension road.

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“It is our aspiration that these informal settlers will have a real home to later fulfill their dreams and have a better life,” Pacio said.

He assured that DMCI Homes, through its corporate social responsibility program called Kaakbay, shall continue to be a partner in the noble task of helping the underprivileged.

DMCI Homes donated in March 2013 P9 million for the construction of 90 homes in Phase 1 of the project. Last month, the property developer turned over P14.7 million in donation to Mayor Olivarez to fund the construction of 100 homes in Phase 2.

Also thanking DMCI Homes were Sid Garcia, chairman of RHF, which is implementing the first phase of the BPHP together with CFC Ancop; Charlito Ayco, CEO of HFHP, which will implement phase two together with iHome; and residents represented by PAR Homeowners Association C-5 Extension president Warren Fernando.

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