Philrealty diversifying into energy, 3 other new businesses

UPSCALE property developer Philippine Realty and Holdings Corp. (Philrealty) is diversifying into energy, healthcare, education and financial services businesses to hedge against potential downturn in the real estate cycle.

In a briefing Tuesday, Philrealty president and chief executive officer Andrew Alcid said that while property would still be the company’s main business moving forward, the entry into four new businesses would unlock new sources of recurring revenues that would keep the company afloat if and when the real estate downturn would happen.

Alcid said the company was “open” to various financing options for its diversification and the projects will likely be funded with a combination of equity and debt.

“Philrealty is expanding its portfolio to industries that carry our core philosophy of creating better communities for Filipinos. We have identified healthcare, education, financial services and power—in addition to real estate—as the five corporate pillars that complete our company’s blueprint for the future,” Philrealty chair Gerardo Lanuza Jr. said in a statement.

Lanuza said that while Philrealty remained confident in taking calculated strides within the high-end property sector, “the positive economic outlook has created opportunities to look into industries outside real estate that can provide additional revenue streams for the company and expand its business portfolio.”

The diversification began with the formation of Sultan’s Power Inc., which will invest in green and sustainable technology.

Alcid said Philrealty was finalizing a deal to acquire a majority stake in a start-up company that would turn plastic waste into diesel, gasoline and kerosene and the first will be set up in Montalban, Rizal.

The first plant will have an initial capacity of turning 5 tons of daily plastic garbage into 819,000 liters of diesel, 82,000 L of kerosene and 129,000 L of gasoline per year. Every expansion in capacity will be to process 5 tons of daily waste plastic input. The fuel products will be sold to commercial users.

The landfills of various local government units will be among the sources of inputs. The others include organized recycling facilities, Alcid said.

On the education business, Alcid said Philrealty had identified potential investment targets. “We’ll participate in both K-12 and college university levels,” he said. “We’ve narrowed down the list of schools which we’d like to have.”

For the healthcare sector, Alcid noted that Philrealty was planning to offer condominium units targeted for active senior citizens. To start with, half of its residential project in One Balete in New Manila, mainly the units in the lower floors, would be offered to older home buyers.

“Active” seniors can pretty much live on their own but if they require immediate medical attention, such residential area can offer it, Alcid said.

For the targeted diversification into financial services, Alcid said the focus would be wealth management targeting the same upscale market served by the firm’s property businesses.