Sinophil seeks partnership with Belle

MANILA, Philippines - Dormant holding firm Sinophil Corp. is targeting a return to profitability in the medium term by partnering with parent firm and leisure developer Belle Corp.

Sinophil, indirectly owned by the country’s richest man Henry Sy, will focus on developing its existing landbank while waiting for favorable market conditions to sell some assets, a company official said.

“The business ventures that are possible for Sinophil are in partnership with its affiliates,” Sinophil president Manuel A. Gana told reporters after the company’s annual stockholders’ meeting, yesterday.

Gana said “new business ventures and liquidation of certain assets” will aid the company’s hopes of being profitable in the next three to five years.

For instance, Sinophil has a 4,000-square meter property near the $1.3-billion Belle Grande Manila integrated casino and hotel complex in Pagcor’s Entertainment City project in Parañaque.

“We can [develop] it under a joint venture with Belle for example,” Gana said.

Other assets of Sinophil include a 30-hectare lot near Belle’s property in Batangas.

“One planned venture will involve a real estate project in Tanauan, Batangas that will be developed together with Belle,” he said.

Gana said Sinophil also owns 86 million shares or around one percent of parent firm Belle.

However, selling any part of it will be premature amid depressed share prices given the outflow of foreign funds from the local stock market, he pointed out.

Sinophil is banking on the opening of Belle Grande Manila in the middle of next year for a share price appreciation.

Gana said the company wants to unlock value in its assets to ensure profitability in the next few years.

In the first quarter, Sinophil trimmed its net loss to P1.48 million from P1.53 million a year ago. The company has no business projects to date.

Shareholders approved yesterday the company’s quasi-reorganization, which involves the reduction of the par value of common and preferred shares to 25 centavos from P1 per share. This will allow the company to erase more than P3 billion in deficit.

Sinophil was incorporated as Sinophil Exploration Co. Inc. in 1993, focusing on oil and gas exploration and development projects. It then joined several geophysical survey and exploration contracts for various petroleum blocks nationwide.

In 1997, Sinophil changed its focus to an investment holding firm.

Sinophil has investments in Legend International Resorts (HK) Ltd., Metro Manila Turf Club Inc., Belle Bay City Corp., Foundation Capital Resources Inc. and Sinophil Leisure and Resorts Corp.