San Miguel group earmarking P281B for expansion in next 3 years

Conglomerate San Miguel Corp. expects to spend some P281 billion to expand traditional and new businesses in the next two to three years, deepening its participation in the domestic economy.

In an investor briefing for SMC’s bond offering of up to P20 billion, conglomerate chief finance officer Ferdinand Constantino said the capital outlays would be made from the fourth quarter of 2016 through 2018 to 2019 as the group expands both old and new businesses.

This forms part of the group’s P543-billion expansion program set out two years ago, of which P262 billion had already been spent through end-September.

“We want to enhance established businesses and continue to grow beverage, food, even to a certain extent the packaging businesses,” Constantino said.  At the same time, he said SMC wanted to diversify and invest in its new businesses like power and fuel and infrastructure businesses.

For 2017 alone, spending this year will amount to P63 billion, Constantino said, the biggest bulk of which will be for the energy sector.

The P281 billion capital outlay expected in the next two to three years will be spent mostly in the Philippines.  It will include the building of a new brewery somewhere in Mindanao which will be San Miguel Brewery’s seventh in the country, he said.

Moving forward, the capital outlays will be for the completion of new infrastructure projects such as tollroads (Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway, Skyway Stage 3, Naia Expressway, South Luzon Expressway expansion), modernization of Boracay airport, Metro Railway Transit 7 and the Bulacan Bulk water supply project.

The food business is also “exciting,”  Constantino said, with close to P60 billion programmed to be spent in next few years.