Philrealty sees debt going down below P100 M by yearend

Philippine Realty & Holdings Corp. (Philrealty) expects its debt to go down to less than P100 million by the end of the year should its major creditors accept a proposal to settle debt through dacion en pago or payment-in-kind scheme, according to a top company official.

Philrealty president Amador C. Bacani said the company is offering the penthouse units of the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) headquarters in Tektite, Ortigas as payment for its loan obligations to some banks.

Among Philrealty’s creditor-banks include Bank of the Philippine Islands and Land Bank of the Philippines.

“Should we be able to conclude negotiations with our creditors, our debt will go down to less than a hundred million pesos by yearend,” Bacani said.

From P829.5 million in 2006, Philrealty has managed to bring down its debt to just P532 million at the end of 2007, using cash generated from the sale of a lot in Fort Bonifacio and proceeds of a joint venture of another lot in the former military complex dubbed Icon Residences, a two 34-story luxury residential condominium building.

The Icon Residences is now more than 90 percent sold and is slated for completion by the end of 2009. It is in partnership with Xcell Property Ventures Inc.

With cash of more than P300 million, Philrealty is now preparing for the resumption of construction of the Andrea North Skyline Tower in the third quarter this year with the completion targeted by the end of 2009.

The three-tower Andea Skyline Tower is located at a 2.8-hectare property in New Manila, Quezon City, which was formerly the site of the Pepsi-Cola plant.

It will be similar to its upscale Alexandra residential condominium complex in Ortigas.

The first tower of Andrea North is estimated to cost over P900 million which will be funded by proceeds of the sale of remaining 105 unsold units with a current selling total selling price of P1.28 billion.

Bacani said the company is confident it can finally complete the Andrea Skyline project with the additional cash to be received from its joint venture with Excell.

Just recently, Philrealty  signed another joint venture agreement with Excell involving a 2,732 square meter property in Bonifacio Global City which will be developed into a mixed-use complex.

The project dubbed Icon Plaza will consist of office suites, commercial/retail spaces and residential units.

Together, Icon Plaza and Icon Residences will generate P7 billion in sales.

Philrealty’s strategy is to enter into joint ventures whereby it will merely contribute the land and other pre-development expenditures while the partner will shoulder the cost of construction of the building.

Other projects in the pipeline include a boutique residential subidivision or a warehouse park in San Fernando, La Union; a condominium resort in San Juan, La Union; and a retail strip in Luzena City, Quezon. – Zinnia dela Peña