ALI allocates P80B for FTI project

MANILA, Philippines - Property giant Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) is allocating P80 billion for its newest integrated mixed-use development in Metro Manila.

The property arm of the Ayala conglomerate is also beefing up its tourism portfolio with a P6-billion investment in Palawan as it expands overseas to Myanmar and Vietnam, executives said.

Aniceto V. Bisnar Jr., vice president of ALI’s Strategic Landbank Management Group, said in a briefing that the company allotted P80 billion for the five-year development of the 74-hectare Arca South (formerly Food Terminal Inc.) in Taguig.

Arca South would have a total of 3.6 million square meters of total gross floor area in 10 to 15 years, Bisnar said.

In 2012, the listed real estate firm won the bidding for the 74-hectare FTI complex after offering P24.3 billion. ALI, which allotted more than 50 hectares of Arca South its own use, earlier said the project would feature around 20 residential towers.

“We’ve laid out the plans over the next few years. It is very similar to what we’ve been doing,” said ALI president and CEO Bernard Vincent Dy.

“We want to continue to expand our mixed-use developments. We want to make sure we keep on introducing our market-leading mixed-use and integrated estates in all these growth centers,” said Dy, who replaced Antonino T. Aquino.

Specifically, ALI has identified 31 growth centers nationwide with 8,453 hectares of developable land.

For the tourism segment, Jose Emmanuel H. Jalandoni, vice-president and group head of Ayala Hotels and Resorts, said the property firm is investing P5-6 billion for the expansion of its El Nido resort in Palawan.

“For Seda, we are thinking of a resort line in El Nido with a convention center and function rooms,” Jalandoni said. The expansion will include the development of 100 hectares of ALI’s landbank of 600 hectares in El Nido.

ALI operates the famous El Nido Resorts in Lagen and Miniloc Islands in northern Palawan.

Ayala Hotels and Resorts so far as roughly 2,000 rooms, but which it plans to double to 4,000 rooms by 2016.

“There are a lot of opportunities in the Philippines, so we don’t expect to put in a lot of capital allocation for the international expansion,” Dy said.

However, ALI is introducing its products to Southeast Asian neighbors.

Dy said the plan is to launch the first residential tower in Myanmar towards the end of this year. The $30-million Myanmar project is under a partnership with a local property firm.

For Vietnam, ALI is still negotiating for a joint venture partner, Dy said.

ALI will spend P70 billion this year, up from P66.26 billion in 2013, to complete ongoing developments and new launches to help sustain the growth trajectory in the coming years. It also plans to launch 78 projects this year with an estimated value of P142 billion.

In 2013, ALI’s profits surged 30 percent to a record P11.74 billion from P9.04 billion in 2012. Hence, the property were already breached the income target under its 5-10-15 program that was launched in 2009 amid the global financial crisis. It is a five-year plan ending in 2014 that aims to boost net income of ALI to P10 billion and return on equity to 15 percent.