Filinvest Development Corp seeks P390-M loan

Filinvest Development Corp. (FDC), the listed investment holding company of the Gotianun family, is seeking a P390-million loan from Sunlife of Canada to refinance obligations and for working capital requirements.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, FDC said it has agreed to negotiate, enter into and sign a commitment letter addressed to Sunlife governing the terms of its P390-million loan.

"By such commitment letter, FDC intends to take advantage of the liquidity of the market and avail itself of interest savings by using proceeds of the loan to pay of existing obligations of FDC and/or its subsidiaries with higher interest," the company said.

FDC had also earlier sought a loan amounting to P540 million from Insular Life Assurance Co. Ltd. and ING Bank N.V.

It plans to develop a 12-hectare property in Mactan Island into a residential and leisure project. It has invested in similar projects in the past, such as the Palms Country Club in Alabang and the Laeuna de Taal in Batangas. FDC raised $4.65 million from the sale of its 13.7-percent stake in Hocheng Philippines Corp. to its Taiwanese partner Ritiboon International Ltd. Hocheng makes bathroom fixtures and sanitary wares.

FDC reported a 129-percent growth in its net income in the nine months ending September this year to P383.7 million, from only P167.4 million the previous year-period.

The increase was attributed to the improved performance of its property and financial services units.

Consolidated revenues reached P3.33 billion during the period to P1.41 billion, which came mostly from additional loans granted. Of the total, P767.1 million came from the group’s banking and financial services, which is an improvement of 23 percent from the year-ago level.

On its real estate operations, Filinvest Asia’s PBCom Tower and Filinvest Alabang Inc.’s other leasing activities generated higher rentals for the period under review because of increased occupancies and tenants’ sales.

FDC property unit Filinvest Land Inc. posted a net income of P463.48 million in the first nine months of the year, up 10.23 percent from P420.46 million the same period last year, mainly driven by higher sales from its projects.