ALI to further tap debt market

MANILA, Philippines — Ayala Land Inc. (ALI), the property and retail giant of conglomerate Ayala Corp., will tap the debt market again, a ranking official said over the weekend. 

ALI, builder of homes, condominiums and developer of some of the country’s biggest mixed-use estates, will again register for a P50 billion debt program with the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) shelf registration facility, said Ayala Land CFO, treasurer and chief compliance officer Augusto Bengzon.

The first tranche of the P50 billion may be filed early next year. The SEC’s shelf registration facility is an option for issuers to register and sell under the same regulatory documents, securities which they do not intend to sell right away. The SEC allows for a three-year window.

 “We should be filing early next year because we have already completed our funding requirements for the year,” Bengzon told reporters. 

He said the company is already preparing for the planned borrowing. 

“If ever we issue, it can be next year in which case we can apply for a shelf registration next year,” Bengzon said.

The funding would support the company’s continued expansion. 

“There are opportunities that we see around the country so we are expanding,” he said. 

Bengzon said the company’s capital expenditures requirement have already breached the P100 billion mark this year or a record high of P111 billion. This is higher than last year’s actual spending of P91 billion.

The ALI CEO said the company’s capex would continue to grow to support its target to hit its next income goal of P40 billion by 2020.

ALI had previously secured a shelf registration of P50 billion which it has already maximised with the last tranche involving the P8 billion fixed rate bonds it recently completed. 

The company is steadily expanding outside the major cities in Metro Manila, toward Mega Manila, Calabarzon and Central Luzon which account for 62 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).

In 2017, ALI launched three new sustainable mixed-use estates in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao with a total area of 275 hectares.

These are in Cavite, Davao, and Cebu. Early this year, the company also launched Parklinks along the C5 corridor. It is a mixed use estate in partnership with the LT Group Inc.

All the new projects bring ALI’s estate portfolio to 25 estates, reinforcing ALI’s capability to create progressive communities and position itself as the largest and leading developer of estates in the Philippines.

The property giant posted a P25.3 billion net income in 2017, up 21 percent.