ALI hikes capital by P8B to cover 20% stock dividend

Ayala Land Inc. (ALI), the property arm of conglomerate Ayala Corp., is raising its capitalization to P20 billion from P12 billion to cover the grant of a 20 percent stock dividend to shareholders.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, ALI said the new capitalization consists of 20 billion common shares with a par value of P1.

ALI said the record date for shareholders entitled to the stock dividend shall be fixed upon the Securities and Exchange Commission’s approval of the capital increase. The stock dividend will be paid not later than 18 trading days from the record date.

The company has set aside P16 billion this year for capital expenditures in projects such as the development of the TriNoma shopping center in North EDSA, a shopping mall in Luzon, the expansion of Ayala Center in Cebu and several residential projects.

Other projects of ALI include the construction of the retail component of Serendra in Bonifacio Global City, the expansion of Greenbelt 5 into 30,000 square meters of gross leasable area, and residential development projects.

Tri Noma, positioned as the entertainment and dining nucleus of Quezon City, is targeted for completion this year, with Landmark Department Store as its anchor tenant.

Tri Noma will also have a new public transport terminal to be developed in the depot site, which will make the commercial center a major inter-modal transport hub and public convergence point in Quezon City.

Positioned as a fashion lifestyle center, Greenbelt 5, meanwhile, will be opening its doors to the public in 2008 with 31,250 square meters of leasable space. The retail portion at Serendra, on the other hand, comprises 6,400 square meters and is being patterned after the Soho-Greenwich area of Manhattan.

ALI is also planning to divest some of its real estate properties that are no longer considered strategic for the group. It has a total landbank of 4,159 hectares, consisting of four components: Makati (54 hectares), Bonifacio Global City (44 hectares), Canlubang (1,696 hectares) and 2,365 hectares in other parts of the country. The company is considering selling 400 hectares of its existing landbank.