By Neil Jerome C. Morales (The
Philippine Star) | Updated March 17, 2014 - 12:00am
Target: 1-M sqm of leasable space by
2020
MANILA, Philippines - DoubleDragon
Properties Corp., the soon-to-be-listed property firm of Mang Inasal founder
Edgar “Injap” Sia II and Jollibee Foods owner Tony Tan Caktiong, is
jumpstarting this year its P24-billion program to become the largest community
malls chain in the Philippines, its top official said.
The company aims to have one million
square meters (sqm) of leasable space by 2020.
“DoubleDragon aims to reach one
million sqm. of total leasable space portfolio by 2020, of which 700,000 sqm.
is expected to come from the planned 100 CityMall community malls,”
DoubleDragon chairman and CEO Edgar “Injap” Sia II told The STAR.
Around 150,000 sqm. is expected to
come from three office buildings in business districts in Metro Manila and the
remaining 150,000 sqm. are for full- or regional-size shopping malls formats,
Sia said.
DoubleDragon will become the first
company to debut in the local bourse this year through an initial public
offering (IPO). It will raise as much as P1.16 billion through a public share
sale facilitated by BDO Capital & Investment Corp., Unicapital Inc. and RCBC
Capital Corp.
Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch:
1, sectionmatch: 1
The property firm, through subsidiary
CityMall Commercial Centers Inc. (CCCI), will launch 100 CityMall branches
nationwide, mostly in the Visayas and Mindanao.
“We have the first mover advantage,”
Sia said, adding that the community malls built in Luzon in the past two years
are independent and owned by numerous families.
CityMall, which will offer
5,000-10,000 sqm. of leasing area, will become the first large-scale and
branded community mall in the country, Sia said.
Under the expansion program, 70
CityMalls will be put up in land acquired by DoubleDragon while the remaining
30 branches are under long-term lease and joint venture with existing malls.
“We are also looking at the possibility
of acquiring or doing a joint venture with existing community malls,” Sia said.
CityMall will expand rapidly in the
next three years, in line with the fast growth of grocery chains Robinsons
Supermarket, Savemore, Puregold, Wellcome and Super 8, Sia said.
Last month, mall and banking
conglomerate SM Investments Corp. acquired 34 percent of CCCI while
DoubleDragon retained a 66-percent stake and the management control.
“With the SM Group, we think before
five years we will be able to complete 100 CityMalls already,” Sia said.
The P23.75-billion capital requirement
for the 100 CityMall branches will be funded by the proceeds from the IPO,
bonds and bank loans, Sia said.
The office portfolio, for its part,
will complete the offerings of DoubleDragon.
“We are looking at three business
districts: Ortigas and two other. This year, we intend to launch the first
[office building],” Sia said.
DoubleDragon is positioned as a hybrid
property and consumer play. The resilience of the consumer sector will benefit
CityMall while residential projects like the 30-storey W.H. Taft Residences
just beside De La Salle University is banking on strong demand, Sia said.
In the medium term, recurring income
through the office towers and CityMall will account for 70 percent of earnings,
Sia said. In 2013, DoubleDragon’s net income jumped 32 percent to P126.63
million from P92.48 million, almost entirely coming from residential sales.
DoubleDragon was initially created as
Injap Land Corp., the real estate arm of Injap Investments Inc., in 2009. In
July 2012, it was renamed DoubleDragon as it became a 50-50 joint venture with
Tan Caktiong.
DoubleDragon plans to be one of the
largest property developer in the country by 2020. This entails becoming one of
the top 10 real estate firms in terms of net income and revenues.
________________________________________________________
