Aboitiz unit sees revenue boost

The construction arm of the billionaire Aboitiz family sees double-digit revenue growth this year until 2020 as it chases big-ticket projects in the country while ramping up overseas exports.

Aboitiz Construction, owned by the clan’s privately held parent Aboitiz & Co., could see sales jump to P6.5 billion by the end of 2019, or a gain of 18 percent, company president and chief operating officer Alberto Ignacio Jr. told reporters.

By next year, he said revenues could rise further to P7.5 billion.

“That’s still not big. It could be bigger,” Ignacio said, referring to the “very slow” rollout of some of the government’s big-ticket infrastructure projects.

Aboitiz Construction has been in business for more than four decades but it keeps a lower profile than many of its rivals in the industry.

It has avoided the construction boom of residential and office towers and instead focused on building power plants, industrial factories and shipyards.

While much of its business is in Visayas and Mindanao, it also has a number of ongoing projects in Luzon, including an expansion project at conglomerate JG Summit Holdings’ petrochemical facility in Batangas province.

Aboitiz Construction is also bidding for a contract to build a cement plant in Mindanao, Ignacio said.

He said up to 40 percent of revenues come from Japanese clients building large-scale industrial facilities. To a smaller extent, the company also builds portions of sea vessels at Tsuneishi Heavy Industries (Cebu) Inc., a venture between Japan’s Tsuneishi Group and Aboitiz & Co.

Moving forward, Aboitiz Construction wants a bigger slice of exports, which account for 25 percent of revenues.

The company builds modular components to be assembled overseas by clients.