Aboitiz group to sell P10B in bonds
Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc. has obtained approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission to sell P10 billion in retail bonds, a Philippine Stock Exchange filing showed on Friday.
The company did not disclose added details, but reports earlier said the deal could be launched within this month, with First Metro Investment Corp. arranging the offer.
AEV also did not detail how the proceeds would be spent.
AEV mainly generates earnings from subsidiary Aboitiz Power Corp., which delivers about 70 percent of the group’s profits.
Banking is another major contributor, at 22 percent, followed by food and real estate.
It has recently been seeking to expand outside of these businesses and into infrastructure.
AEV, for example, has partnered with Ayala Land Inc. to bid for a P17.5-billion deal to expand and operate the Mactan-Cebu International Airport under the government’s public private partnership program.
The conglomerate is also part of a consortium, together with Ayala Corp., looking at a P35-billion PPP deal to build the 47-kilometer Cavite Laguna Expressway.
The Cebu airport PPP will be auctioned off in Nov. 14 while the Cavite-Laguna tollroad will be bid out on Jan. 20 next year.
AEV last week reported that profit in the nine months through September declined 8 percent to P16.6 billion due to foreign exchange losses and nonrecurring loss booked by its flagship power unit from a loan pretermination.
Adjusting for these one-off items, AEV’s core nine-month net income amounted to P16.4 billion, or 7 percent lower than the year-ago level. This was due to the decline in the selling price of power.
For the third quarter alone, AEV’s consolidated net income declined by 25 percent year-on-year to P4.6 billion, also due to the revaluation of US dollar-denominated liabilities and placements.
The resulting nonrecurring loss was partially offset by the reversal of funds set aside as loss provision relating to certain equity transactions.
Adjusting for these, AEV closed the quarter with a core net income of P4.7 billion, down by 25 percent year-on-year. Miguel R. Camus
