DMCI to cut 2020 capital spending by 52%

DMCI Holdings Inc. is halving group-wide capital outlays this year as part of measures to cope with the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.From the original plan of P40.4 billion at the start of the year, consolidated capital expenditures will be reduced by 52 percent to P19.4 billion as various DMCI operating units defer their capital spending to boost liquidity and keep balance sheets healthy, DMCI chair and chief executive officer Isidro Consunji reported to stockholders in an annual meeting on Tuesday.When asked about potential workforce rationalization, DM Consunji Inc. president Jorge Consunji said in a press briefing that with some construction projects now put on standby as the coronavirus pandemic changed project timetables, the construction company would have to conduct “right-sizing” that could affect an estimated 10 percent of indirect workers.

“We are recalibrating it now because of the new norms and the effects of the [changes in construction] schedule,” he said.Capital spending at the construction business is seen to decline to P1 billion this year from the original target of P1.7 billion.DMCI Homes, meanwhile, plans to reduce its capital outlay this year from P31 billion to P14 billion by capping its land acquisitions to P4 billion, a 79-percent drop from its original plan of P19 billion.

At Semirara Mining and Power Corp., company president Cristina Consunji-Gotianun said Semirara would slash its capital spending this year to P3.1 billion from the original target of P6.3 billion.Capital spending for off-grid power operator DMCI Power is maintained at P1.2 billion, while for the nickel mining business under DMCI Mining is capped at P100 million from P200 million previously. —Doris Dumlao-Abadilla INQ