Filinvest allots P40B for capex this year

Gotianun-led conglomerate Filinvest Development Corp. (FDC) has earmarked about P40 billion in a mix of capital expenditures and fresh equity investments this year, expanding various businesses as a vote of confidence in the fast-growing domestic economy.

The amount of capital outlays planned by FDC this year is more aggressive than the P25 billion in spending last year.

FDC president Josephine Gotianun-Yap told reporters after FDC’s stockholders’ meeting last week that of the total amount that the group intended to disburse this year, P20 billion would be spent by property arm Filinvest Land Inc. (FLI) while another P10 billion was budgeted for hotel businesses as well as Filinvest Alabang Inc. (FAI).

The remaining allotment for the year, Gotianun-Yap said, would be for equity investments and additional equity in some of the subsidiaries.

Apart from FLI, FAI and the hotel arm FDC Hotels Corp., the subsidiaries of the conglomerate include FilArchipelago Hospitality Inc.; Seascapes Resorts Inc.; East West Banking Corp.; Pacific Sugar Holdings Corp.; FDC Utilities Inc., and Countrywide Water Service Inc.

On the hotel business, the group is opening deluxe hotel Crimson Boracay this year, offering close to 200 rooms, Gotianun-Yap said.

At the same time, she said the group had a number of new hotels in the pipeline, including another one in Mactan, Cebu, alongside new hotels in Puerto Princesa, Tagaytay, Clark and Cubao. This is in line with the group’s target to build a 5,000-room hotel portfolio by 2020.

During the stockholders’ meeting, Gotianun-Yap reported that in 2016, the property business was the biggest contributor to FDC’s net profit accounting for 65 percent. Banking accounted for 31 percent while the sugar business contributed 5 percent.

In terms of revenues, banking and property contributed 41 percent each to FDC’s consolidated revenues. The sugar business contributed 4 percent while the fledgling power business accounted for 13 percent.

Of total earnings of the property group amounting to P24.23 billion last year, 30 percent consisted of recurring income.

Last year, the group brought to the property market P11.9 billion worth of residential inventory.

Still on the property business, the Filinvest group has a big stake in Clark, Pampanga, as it is developing plans for the 288-hectare Clark Green City, a partnership with the state-controlled Bases Conversion Development Authority.

The group is also redeveloping the 201.64-hectare Mimosa Leisure Estate, which will have a regional lifestyle and retail mall, a new office park and a variety of residential options from villas to mid-rise condominium buildings.

The Filinvest group also entered the power business last year with with the commercial operation of FDC Utilities’ 405-megawatt coal plant in Misamis Oriental, the biggest power plant in Mindanao.