Philippines Property

ALI eyes debt market to fund P66-B capex

Economy

Feb 142014

MANILA, Philippines – Property giant Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) is tapping the debt market as a major fund source for its P66-billion capital spending this year.

The property developer of the Ayala conglomerate is banking on high liquidity in the financial service sector for its fundraising program, a top company executive said.

“(Fundraising will be) still primarily through debts…we have debt capacity that we can utilize,” said ALI chief finance officer Jaime Ysmael.

ALI has already refinanced most of its debts, making the company comfortable in the current maturity profile and interest rates due to lenders, he said.

The real estate firm is allotting close to P70 billion for its capital expenditures this year to support landbanking and project developments.

In 2013, ALI spent P66 billion for its various projects, backed by a P12.2-billion overnight share sale in March, a P15-billion bond sale in August and a P6-billion bond offering in October.

Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1

“Given our pipeline of projects, we estimate that our capital spending will be similar in magnitude [for 2014],” Ysmael earlier said.

“Hopefully the high liquidity in the banking system will help mitigate any increase [in interest rates],” he said.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has assured companies it has a wide range of toolkit to address any possible rate increases and make economic conditions still workable for everyone, Ysmael said.

ALI is primarily into the development of residential projects, lease of commercial and office space and sale of prime lots. The company is also beefing up its recurring income portfolio through new hotels, convenience stores, department stores, supermarkets and hospitals.

In January to September last year, ALI’s profits jumped 30 percent to P8.6 billion, mainly driven by the upbeat performance of its property development, commercial leasing and services businesses.

The property firm is wrapping up its 5-10-15 program, launched in 2009 amid the global financial crisis. It is a five-year plan ending in 2014 that aims to boost ALI’s net income to P10 billion and return on equity to 15 percent.

Phl safe from asset bubbles – BSP

Economy

May 052013

MANILA, Philippines – Property loans granted for residential purposes rose the fastest among other household credit last year, but remained of the best quality, boosting the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) belief that the country is still safe from asset bubbles. In its Status of Philippine Financial System Report released last Friday, the central bank said residential real estate loans increased 19.77 percent to P264.2 billion from P220.836 billion a year ago. This accounted for the biggest share in consumer loans, at 42 percent of the total P629.3 billion granted during the same period. Aggregate consumer loans went up 15.28 percent year-on-year. Other consumer loans were auto loans, credit card receivables and those used for other purposes such as purchase of appliances. All recorded gains from their 2011 levels. Despite the marked increase, residential property loans enjoyed the lowest bad loan ratio or the proportion of unpaid loans over the loan portfolio. Bad loans are those that remained unpaid 30 days after the due date. Unpaid credit accounted for 4.1 percent of total residential real estate loans, down from 4.3 percent in 2011. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Last week, BSP Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said there are “no emerging signs” of asset bubble formation in the Philippines despite the affordability of bank credit and surge of inflows from abroad. Asset bubbles are characterized by an upshot in asset prices, such as those in the real estate sector, that they no longer reflect real market rates Read More …

ALI trims capital to P21.5B

Economy

Feb 012013

MANILA, Philippines – Property giant Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) will trim its authorized capital stock to P21.5 billion as several preferred shares were eliminated from the company. In a disclosure, ALI said it secured the Securities and Exchange Commission’s approval for the decrease in its authorized capital stock by P1.303 billion to P21.5 billion from P22.803 billion. The lower authorized capital stock reflects “the aggregate par value of the 13.034 billion preferred shares which have been redeemed and eliminated,” ALI said. Hence, ALI’s capital stock will decline to P21.5 billion divided into 20 billion common shares with a par value of P1 and 15 billion voting preferred shares worth 10 centavos each. This is lower than the P22.803 billion authorized capital divided into 20 billion common shares at P1 each, 15 billion voting preferred shares at 10 centavos each and 13.034 billion preferred shares worth 10 centavos each. The company’s board of directors approved the capital decrease in April last year. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 ALI is into residential and office development, and shopping mall and hotel operations. In the nine months to September last year, ALI’s earnings reached P6.62 billion, up 27 percent from P5.23 billion a year earlier on the back of the strong performance in all its business lines.