San Miguel Corporation (SMC) may hit its target of booking at least P1 trillion in revenues as early as this year—two years earlier than its stated target of 2020—as its new investments in new business ventures and the strength of its traditional lines begin to pay off.
In an interview, the chief of the country’s largest conglomerate said hitting the target by yearend “is very possible” given reports from various units that have come in in recent weeks.
“We’re already expecting net sales of over P900 billion this year, excluding Masinloc,” SMC president Ramon Ang said, referring to the 630-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Zambales it acquired late last year for $1.9 billion.
“With the additional contributions from this new unit, we could hit P1 trillion this year,” he added.
Without the contribution of the Masinloc power plant, the conglomerate’s revenues are expected to grow by 11 percent this year, marginally beating its internal 10-percent annual growth target. With the power plant, however, total revenues are expected to rise by 14 percent at the end of 2018 compared to the same period last year.
Ang said he was also focused on the upcoming equity offering that would consolidate all the conglomerate’s food and beverage businesses under one listed entity. The exercise would raise as much as P142 billion in fresh capital for San Miguel Food and Beverage Inc. and make it the largest stock offering in the history of the Philippines.
This would beat the P60 billion raised by BDO Unibank through a rights offer last year, and the P37.3-billion stock offer of LT Group Inc. in 2013.
Ang explained this equity offer would raise the firm’s public float to over 20 percent and would allow more retail investors to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the conglomerate, including what he promised to be a rich dividend payout.
Ang said he was also focused on building a P700-billion international airport with four parallel runways just north of Metro Manila to replace the 70-year-old Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
He said the proposed “New Manila International Airport” would be built at no cost to the government and would eventually be transferred to the state after a 50-year concession period.