Posted on July 18, 2016
AYALA LAND, Inc. (ALI) is expecting a
sustained demand for work spaces in the Philippines, as the company targets to
bring its office inventory to 825,000 square meters (sq.m.) by the yearend.
In a statement issued late Friday, the
property arm of Ayala Corp. noted a continued demand for leasable office spaces
driven by the further expansion of the business process outsourcing industry
(BPO).
“The higher occupancy we experienced
last year will continue,” ALI Offices Head Carol T. Mills said in the statement,
noting the company is well positioned to address the market’s needs with the
development of new office spaces in major business hubs nationwide.
ALI currently develops properties
spanning more than 6,000 hectares into economic growth centers similar to Ayala
Center in Makati City, Bonifacio Global City (BGC) in Taguig, Ayala Center Cebu
and Nuvali in Laguna.
The company now has 715,000 square
meters of gross leasable area with the completion of the BGC Corporate Center,
Bonifacio Stopover and the Alabang Town Center BPO facility; the additional of
buildings at the UP-Ayala Land Technohub in Quezon City and Cebu IT Park; and
the acquisition of the Aegis PeopleSupport building in Cebu.
ALI targets to expand its leasable
office area to 825,000 sq.m. before the year ends.
The company recently raised P8 billion
and P7 billion -- the first and second tranches of a three-year debt securities
program amounting to P50 billion -- to further support its expansion plans.
ALI spent P23.4 billion for project and
capital expenditures in the first quarter of the year.
The company netted P4.7 billion during
the three-month period, a 14% increase from the P4.12 billion recorded a year
earlier, after generating P26.97 billion in revenues through the sustained
growth of its diverse property development businesses.
“Ayala Land Offices has been at the
forefront of providing a complete line of office real estate solutions located
in the most strategic sites,” Ms. Mills noted.
Shares in ALI closed 70 centavos or
1.75% higher at P40.70 apiece on the Philippine Stock Exchange on Friday. --
Keith Richard D. Mariano
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