Zipporah in debt-equity swap with Sta Lucia

Zipporah Realty Holdings Inc. will settle its P61.07 million obligation to property developer Sta. Lucia Realty & Development Inc. through a debt-to-equity conversion.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Zipporah said the conversion of the loan into equity will be subject to a validation procedure by the firm’s management and the required documentation. Sta. Lucia is one of the major shareholders of Zipporah.

Zipporah said it has confirmed and approved the list of obligations presented by Sta. Lucia subject to the condition that should any of the confirmed obligations be later found irregular or flawed, the latter shall hold Zipporah free from any prejudice that may arise therefrom.

The company was affected by the Asian financial crisis which resulted in unstable exchange rates and a rise in interest cost. The depreciation of the peso has led to the tightening of bank loans which eventually caused the rise in interest rates and general slackening of the property market.

Zipporah was originally incorporated as a mining firm. Presently, it is primarily engaged in real estate holding and development with mining as its secondary purpose. Its main source of revenue comes from sales of real estate properties. The company ceased mining operations in 1998 pending the overall review of production operations.

The company’s subsidiary, EBEDEV Inc. launched its first project — the Westmont Village in Sucat, Paranaque which started commercial operations in January 1996. The Westmont Village, which consists of two four-storey buildings, was conceptualized primarily to answer the needs of young urban professionals and the growing demand of the medium income market.

For the first quarter this year, Zipporah incurred a net loss of P5.27 million or P7.27 million lower than the previous year’s level. The decrease was due to the lower interest expense incurred by the company and its subsidiary.