DMCI beefs up capital outlay in 2017 to P28B

Consunji-led DMCI Holdings Inc. has earmarked P28 billion for group-wide capital spending this year, as the group seeks to grow its coal mining, power, property, power and nickel mining businesses.

This amount is much higher than last year’s capital outlay of P16.5 billion, DMCI Holdings chief finance officer Herbert Consunji said in a press briefing after the company’s stockholders’ meeting.

The capital spending budget for this year excludes the P14-billion capital spending by Maynilad Water Services Inc., where the group has a 27.19-percent interest.

Maynilad’s budget this year is higher than the P10 billion spent last year.

Of group-wide capital spending, Semirara Mining and Power Corp. will have an allotment of P14.5 billion. Semirara is steadily increasing its capacity to a maximum of 16 million metric tons to take advantage of favorable coal prices and local market demand.

Semirara president Victor Consunji said in a report to stockholders that the group was anticipating higher domestic coal sales because of the new plants that would be commissioned and operational during the year. The group’s outlook for the power segment is likewise positive as unit 1 of Sem-Calaca Power Corp. was expected to perform better after undergoing boiler enhancements.

For property arm DMCI Homes, the capital spending budget is P11.6 billion.

“We want to intensify our efforts in property acquisition, which will enable us to enter new market segments and locations, and introduce new product formats,” DMCI Homes president Alfredo Austria said in his report.

Off-grid power producer DMCI Power has a capital spending budget of P1 billion this year while construction arm DM Consunji Inc. and nickel miner DMCI Mining has earmarked P900 million and P800 million, respectively.

Nestor Dadivas, president of DMCI Power, is expecting a continued double-digit market growth due to the accelerating economies of Palawan and Masbate. This 2017 is also planned to be a year of updating the company’s operations and maintenance programs to improve efficiencies of its power plants.

For the construction business, DM Consunji president Jorge Consunji said the group would aggressively pursue infrastructure projects.

“With the current regulatory issues, generating growth will be a challenge for the nickel mining business. Nonetheless, we see the current opportunities available in chromite, which is more prevalent in the Zambales area,” DMCI Mining president Cesar Simbulan said.