EEI mulls new holding firm for listing at PSE

Construction giant EEI Corp. will set up a holding company that will apply for listing at the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), company senior vice-president Ferdinand Villafuerte said.

In a disclosure to the PSE, Villafuerte said the company’s board has approved the formation of a holding company that will be listed at the bourse by way of introduction through a swap of shares with EEI.

Intro listing refers to the listing of shares at the exchange without first undertaking an initial public offering (IPO).

Villafuerte said the company will seek PSE’s opinion to determine if what it proposes to do is qualified under the exchange’s rule on listing by introduction.

In the same meeting, the board approved to increase the number of the company’s preferred shares from 120 million at P1 par value to 200 million shares at the same par value.

Amid the continued slump in the domestic construction industry, EEI incurred a consolidated net loss of P583.15 million last year or more than double the previous year’s P279.35 million net loss. This was attributed to the decrease in major construction contracts and lack of workable backlog as companies continue to shelve capacity upgrading and other capital projects in view of the political and security problems encountered in 2003.

As a result, gross revenues dropped to P2.74 billion from P2.8 billion in 2002.

At the end of 2003, consolidated orders obtained reached P3.27 billion or 28 percent lower than the P4.53 billion recorded a year before.

Despite the intense competition and unfavorable market outlook in the construction industry, EEI managed to obtain the following projects in the domestic market: NAIA-3 expressway and related road project; general construction works for the Esperanza Residences project of Ayala Land Inc.; construction packages for San Miguel’s PET plants in Davao and San Fernando; and various construction work packages for Intel Phil.

For its overseas operations, the company continues to provide professional and skilled manpower personnel in various countries in the Middle East. As of end-2003, it has a total of 2,500 personnel assigned overseas.

Among the projects that were completed last year include Landco’s Pacific Mall, the new Jollibee commissary, Unilab warehouse/distribution center and the EDSA Central Crossing redevelopment project for Greenfield Development Corp.