BIZ BUZZ: DoubleDragon defies pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has delivered a gut punch to many of the country’s largest companies, no thanks to the sudden drop in consumer demand across the board that impacted revenues and upset expansion plans.

But don’t tell that to Edgar “Injap” Sia II, whose companies have been experiencing upward trajectories in many positive metrics while many others have been heading downward.

Biz Buzz hears that the young billionaire’s flagship venture, DoubleDragon, is enjoying the benefits of being in sunrise areas of its industry.

More importantly, it looks like the pandemic’s uneven effects on industry players are putting DoubleDragon in a position to capture more opportunities once the crisis is over.

We’re talking about the period from 2023 to 2030 which, if everything unfolds the way they are now, may yet become the best years for Injap’s companies.

Consider this: During the pandemic, DoubleDragon’s balance sheet strengthened significantly with equity now standing at P61 billion, higher than its prepandemic level. This is also slightly more than halfway to its goal of having a P120-billion equity level by the end of the decade.

The firm’s debt-to-equity mix also improved during the pandemic, with the ratio now at 0.58 times, one of the lowest among listed companies in the Philippines.

DoubleDragon is also to end 2021 with its hard asset recurring income portfolio exceeding the 1.2-million-square-meter gross floor area milestone—not bad at all for a performance during a pandemic.

The company’s four pillars of growth are also ready and strategically positioned for the future.

With the advent of COVID-19, its chain of small CityMall commercial centers in provincial communities are well-positioned to provide key services, with the majority occupied by essential shops, such as supermarkets, clinics, banks and pharmacies.

Meanwhile, the chain of CentralHubs, a sunrise sector in the real estate space, is designed for lease for warehouses, logistics distribution centers, manufacturing centers, cold storage facilities, commissaries and e-commerce hubs.

Its chain of Hotel101 establishments, a pioneering condotel concept with all units having a typical finish and size, gives DoubleDragon twofold income: first from the preselling of units during construction and then from the hotel operations once the building is finished. The global patent for the Hotel101 pioneering concept has been filed, Biz Buzz hears.

Finally, its chain of office buildings, with six of the total of nine buildings in DoubleDragon Meridian Park complex already completed, is the fourth leg of the firm’s revenue strategy. The 42-story Jollibee Tower was also recently completed. And another office development underway is the Robinsons DoubleDragon Tower in Libis, Quezon City, a joint venture project between DoubleDragon and Robinsons Land Corp.

—Daxim L. Lucas

Win-win deal confirmed

We reported three weeks ago that an unlikely alliance between two firms, Pacific Online Systems Corp. and the Philippine Gaming Management Corp., had become the de facto winner of a multibillion peso deal to run the country’s National Online Lottery System.

Well, now it’s official.

Biz Buzz learned that the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) awarded last Friday the P6.15-billion deal to the joint venture between two former rivals which have since decided to work together.

It’s a big win, in particular for Pacific Online, which is chaired by businessman and former stockbroker Willy Ocier.

Ocier has been operating quietly over the last couple of years, working below the radar and holding his cards close to his chest.

Now we know why, and it has clearly paid off with this new deal.

The National Online Lottery System—sometimes called the Philippine Lottery System—is basically the next-generation development of the current lotto system. It became controversial after it was revealed that a Chinese-led consortium called Genlot was initially disqualified from the bidding for being ineligible, but then included again, disqualified again, included again, and finally disqualified again.

During this time, the special bids and awards committee members of the PCSO even tendered their resignation in protest of some moves by unnamed parties to have the firm reinstated in the lineup.

In any case, after months of moves and countermoves, it appears that the contract has finally been awarded to the two parties that have been operating the country’s lotto system for years now.

All eyes are now on the project, with everyone hoping that this unlikely alliance—a complex project with a lot of money involved, and high stakes for the country—can be executed to everyone’s satisfaction. Hopefully so, so that the win-win situation can become a win-win-win one. Abangan!

—Daxim L. Lucas INQ

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