Ayala Land sets P5.6-B capex program for ’04

Property giant Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) has earmarked P5.6 billion in capital expenditures for its new residential and office buildings this year, company officials said.

ALI chief finance officer Jaime Ysmael said the capital budget is significantly higher than the previous year’s P5.2 billion, which factors in ALI’s P2.6-billion investment in Bonifacio Land Corp. The company will finance its development projects using internally-generated funds.

Ysmael said about P2.4 billion, or 43 percent, of the total budget will be used for new residential buildings and high-end residential subdivisions. The balance of P3.2 billion, or 57 percent, is being set aside for investments in commercial centers and office buildings, as well as equity investments in various subsidiaries.

Topping the list of ALI’s new residential projects is Serendra, a residential condominium building to rise on a 12-hectare parcel of land in Fort Bonifacio. The property acquired from the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA), is expected to be completed in 2007.

Ysmael said the first phase of Market! Market!, a retail development within the Bonifacio Global City is scheduled to open in October this year. With about 150,000 square meters (sqm.) of gross leasable area, this mall will have more than 1,000 outlets and will include a hawkers area, department store and supermarket, fruits and flower market and a public transport terminal.

As of end-December last year, 90 percent out of 244 regular spaces have been leased out and 54 percent of over 600 bazaar spaces have already been committed.

In addition to Market! Market!, future mall projects include the North Triangle Commercial Center at the MRT depot in Quezon City and new lifestyle centers.

In the next five years, its shopping center expansion involving an additional 476,000 sqm. of gross leasable area will increase ALI’s retail stock by at least 54 percent.

ALI also intends to continue the development of Ayala South into a truly integrated community. Aside from Ayala Westgrove Heights and Ayala Greenfield Estates, the company will begin the development of over 1,000 hectares of property it acquired from the Yulo family in Laguna.

ALI chairman Fernando Zobel de Ayala said that despite the uncertainties and the weak economy, the company remained on track and performed well in a lackluster environment.

He said he is optimistic that ALI will be able to sustain its profitability as it sees exciting opportunities in the mass-based and core-mid housing market segments, the enormous development potential of Ayala South as a well-planned, large-scale community, and the promise of Fort Bonifacio as a vibrant component of the country’s central business district.

"Most of our development efforts will focus primarily on these attractive growth areas and we are confident that this will enable us not only to retain but further strengthen the company’s position as the undisputed leader in Philippine real estate development," he said.

"In the next 15 years, we would like ALI to continue being a leader in innovation. As customer needs and preferences change, our products will evolve with them but the way we do business and corporate values will remain the same," he added.

Last year, ALI reported a consolidated net income of P2.71 billion, up eight percent from the previous year’s level. Consolidated revenues, on the other hand, grew 20 percent to P14.62 billion.