AbaCore profits up on property revaluation

Listed holding company AbaCore Capital Holdings Inc. saw profits surge in 2021 mainly on the significant upward revaluation of property assets in Batangas, which would be developed with partners.

AbaCore said in a stock exchange filing that net income last year surged to P4.68 billion, reversing an P84.75 million loss in 2020, after recording a P4.57 billion gain from higher property values.

Revenues last year also soared over 50 times to P432.17 million from the sale of land.

In a separate statement, AbaCore said it entered into a $100 million deal last year with Starfleet Innotech, a multinational investment company, to develop a “resort-like condotel” in Batangas province.

The company said it would also pursue plans to build the ABA Energy Hub, a 103-hectare energy facility, in Batangas. Thus, AbaCore agreed to provide land to a subsidiary of A. Brown & Co. for the development of a liquefied natural gas facility, the statement showed.

Raul de Mesa, AbaCore chair, said the company had significant land assets of 330 hectares in Batangas, a province located south of Metro Manila.

He also pointed to increasing land values in Batangas as key driver for profit growth.

“Our 2021 financial results demonstrate we have been successful in pursuing partnerships that fully take advantage of Batangas’ potential, and we expect this success to continue in 2022 as more investors and businesses recognize the economic viability of the province,” De Mesa said in the statement.

—Miguel R. Camus