Ayala plumps up capex to P284B as units scale up

MANILA, Philippines — The Ayala Group of the Zobel family will increase its capital spending this year by up to 14 percent to reach P284 billion, as some of its core business units intensify expansion plans and strive to help sustain high earnings.

Cezar Consing, president and CEO of Ayala Corp., on Friday said they would particularly prioritize Acen Corp., its listed energy platform, for capital spending this year.

“If there’s one core business that deserves capital and needs capital, and will change the country, it’s [Acen],” Consing told reporters during a media briefing.

READ: ACEN allocating P72B in 2024 for renewable projects

“If you have a large renewable energy business that supplies a significant amount of energy, that would change our lives. We’d like to focus our capital there (Acen),” he added.

Acen aims to expand its renewable energy portfolio to 20,000 megawatts (MW) by 2030. It currently has close to 6,000 MW of capacity.

This year, the company will earmark P72 billion in capital expenditures (capex), up from P40 billion last year, to bankroll new projects locally and abroad.

Group 2023 bottom line surges

Ayala Corp., the country’s oldest conglomerate, saw its net income in 2023 surge by 39 percent to P38.1 billion on higher earnings from its core businesses.

Property developer Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) will also get a significant share in the group’s total spending this year at P100 billion, up from P86.2 billion.

READ: Ayala Land readies merger with 34 units

ALI earlier said it planned to launch more projects under its premium brands, Ayala Land Premier and Alveo Land.

Telecommunications giant Globe Telecom Inc., meanwhile, will reduce its spending this year by 22 percent to P55 billion, its lowest budget allocation since 2019 as the company works to improve its balance sheet.

As Ayala Corp., the parent company is setting aside P13 billion this year for its own needs.

”We are deliberately going through all our businesses now and how we can scale them. When you look at the businesses we’ve chosen to be in, you could see they are addressing pain points in the country,” Consing said.

Electric vehicle industry

Meanwhile, transportation arm AC Mobility plans to further expand its footprint in the country to support the growing electric vehicle (EV) industry through new dealerships and charging stations.

READ: Ayala, Bosch expand automotive partnership

AC Mobility CEO Jaime Alfonso Zobel de Ayala said they eyed expanding their dealer network in the country through Chinese EV maker BYD.

The Ayala-led firm last year became the official local distributor of BYD, which currently has three dealers in the country.

According to Zobel, they want to increase this to 20 within the year, beginning with a new dealership to be opened next week in Cebu province. This will be the first BYD dealer outside the capital.

”In the short term, our focus is to set up the local EV ecosystem by bringing in a compelling lineup of four-wheel EVs as well as by widening the charging infrastructure, store footprint, and our internal capabilities,” he said.

At the same time, they also plan to build 100 charging stations this year, in addition to the 33 existing stations.